The Rampions
by xXPokePotterIslandXx
Summary: Renegades AU. Cinder is a prodigy mechanic living in a society governed by a superhero group known as the Rampions. But when a long-gone group of super villains rises to power once more, its up to Cinder and eight other prodigies to topple them, before the world can dissolve into chaos. All canon pairings inside!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Cinder**

Cinder peered into the belly of the parade float, studying the giant gears for moving the wheels and the mechanisms that shot confetti and balloons into the air. She scowled as she struggled to find anything that didn't match the blueprint overlaying her vision. Her scowl only deepened when she failed.

Not that she'd expected this job to be easy. Not even the Rampion engineers could figure out what was wrong with the float, and they were prodigies! All they knew was that one moment the float was working as normal and the next it just refused to do anything. It just wouldn't move, and it had become Cinder's job to find out why, preferably before the actual parade started up.

Crawling over to one of the huge gears, Cinder gave it an experimental heave. The mechanism moved fairly easily and with minimal noise. That ruled out rust then. She checked the blueprint again and went over to the vehicle's engine. When she reached it, she opened up the pistons and felt around inside. No blockages.

Cinder started to wriggle her way to the fuel tank. The Rampion engineers had assured her that the float had plenty of juice, but Cinder just wanted to check it anyway. Maybe the fuel had been tampered with or something?

When the tank came into view, Cinder removed her right glove and placed her bare hand onto the surface of the tank. It was cold, freezing actually. And if Cinder knew anything about machines, it's that they were never freezing.

She opened up the tank and peered inside, allowing herself a small cry of triumph. The tank was full alright, but the fuel was frozen solid. No wonder it wasn't operating. Some cheeky prodigy, Snowstorm perhaps, must have thought it would be funny.

Although this now posed a tricky problem. Cinder couldn't very well melt the ice with a blowtorch or call a fire elemental in. The fuel will catch fire and the whole float will go up in flames. And it wasn't just the surface of the fuel that was frozen either, it was the entire tank, so Cinder couldn't just break the ice either.

She frowned to herself, frustrated by this tricky problem that some silly prodigy had given her.

She stayed there for a few minutes, scowling at the tank of frozen fuel, when a solution finally popped into her head. She started to crawl her way back out the float, pride blooming inside her at having figured out how to fix what not even trained prodigies could. It's true, Cinder herself was also a prodigy, but her abilities didn't specifically grant her gift for mechanics, like a technopath's would. Really the only way they helped was that she could download blueprints. Actually figuring out how to fix a problem, that was all her.

Cinder flinched as the sunlight hit her eyes and took a few moments to rapidly blink away the offending brightness. Once her eyes fully adjusted, she got to her feet and looked around for a Rampion to report her findings to.

"Did you figure out what was wrong?"

Cinder glanced up to see a teenage boy wearing the Rampion uniform, maybe a little older than her, with dark hair that fell slightly into his eyes, which were a beautiful soft copper colour. In moments, Cinder's scanner had automatically recognised the image of his face and connected her to the net database, sending information marching across her vision in uniform green text:

**KAITO ROYAL/THE DIPLOMAT**

**BORN 7 APR 2001 C.E. TO RIKAN ROYAL/THE EMPEROR AND CHRYS ROYAL/THE EMPRESS (DECEASED)**

**STATUS: PRODIGY, WEAK TELEPATHIC ABILITY**

Cinder blinked away the information and stood up a little straighter. "Yes Mr Royal. Some cryogenic prodigy decided it would be funny to freeze up the fuel tank. Pouring some boiling water into it should melt the ice, but it'd be best if you brought the tank out of the float first, just in case it overflows."

"So it'll still be alright for the parade?"

"You might have to delay it for a bit, but it should be fine."

The Diplomat breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks a bunch. This is kinda the most important float in the parade so it was really worrying when no one could figure out what was wrong with it. How much do we owe you?"

Cinder waved away the question. "Don't worry about it Mr Royal. It was my honour."

The Diplomat looked a little bit uncomfortable with this, but it didn't stop the amused grin spreading across his face as he replied, "Please, call me Kai. "Mr Royal" is my dad."

Embarrassment rushed through Cinder and warnings about increases in internal temperature scrolled across her vision. She fidgeted with the hem of her glove and replied awkwardly. "Of course, Mr-err, I mean, Kai. Sorry." Kai looked suspiciously like he was trying not to laugh.

"Cinder!"

Cinder's head instinctively snapped up at the sound of her name being called. She was met with the sight of a dark-skinned girl with golden eyes and blue hair tied up in hundreds of braids running towards her.

She grinned at the blue-haired girl and gave her a small wave. "Hey Iko. How's life as a Rampion?"

Iko smiled back as she finally reached her and replied ecstatically. "Amazing! It's like every day there's more bad guys to beat up! I think it's safe to say that most of them live in fear of Android now." She flipped some of her braids over her shoulder proudly as she said this.

"You two know each other?" Kai asked suddenly, gesturing at both girls.

Iko threw an arm around Cinder's shoulders and replied casually, "This is my adoptive sister, Cinder."

Kai grinned and his eyes lit up with recognition. Cinder's stomach immediately started tying itself up in knots when that happened. Kai knew about her? Did he know she was a prodigy? What made her a prodigy?

"So this is the famous Cinder! Pleasure to meet you!" Kai stuck out his hand for her to shake. She took it tentatively, making sure to use her right hand.

"Iko's always talking about you. She's my teammate by the way. She clearly wasn't exaggerating when she said you were the best mechanic in New Beijing!"

Cinder managed a weak smile at the praise, though her heart was pounding with fear. What exactly has Iko told this guy?

"Well, I'd better get to my position. I'll leave you two to chat for a while before dragging Iko over to hers. It was great meeting you Cinder! I hope to see you again soon! Maybe at the trials later this week." Kai grinned one last time before walking off. As soon as he was out of earshot, Cinder whipped around to face Iko, opening her mouth to voice her fears.

"No, I didn't tell him you're a prodigy." Iko assured her before she could find her voice. "Honestly Cinder, what do you take me for? Some kind of gossip?"

"I just don't want you to go spilling all my secrets is all."

"Being a prodigy isn't something to be ashamed of!" Iko exclaimed with a roll of her golden eyes. "Heck, our kind are practically worshipped! You should show off your prodigy-ness, not do everything in your power to hide it!"

Now it was Cinder's turn to roll her eyes. "Iko, roughly 50% of the world's population still thinks that prodigies are dangerous, unnatural beings that deserve to be locked up, or even killed! Besides, I'm not a prodigy like you are, or like Kai, or any other Rampion! My abilities aren't natural like yours! They're synthetic, mechanical!"

To prove her point, Cinder whipped off her left glove, holding up her bare hand for Iko to see, to remind her that it wasn't flesh and bone.

Cinder's left hand was robotic. It had no nerve endings, no veins and no sinew, only metal, wires and mechanical joints. The same was true for her left leg. She had a built-in power cell to keep her body functioning, like a second heart. She had synthetic eyes with facial-recognition scanners and retinal display allowing her to see newsfeeds and statistics downloaded via the net-link in her brain. Part of her skull had been cut away, replaced with a metal panel that opened up to reveal a complicated mess of wires and even an access-point for plug-ins in case she needed to download data from her memory bank to another device, or convert power to or from her own cell. It was all necessary.

When she was eleven, Cinder had been involved in a car crash that took her parents lives and very nearly hers. It was only because of all these technological features that she was alive today, not only alive but technically a prodigy!

But it didn't change the fact that Cinder wasn't normal, even among prodigies. Some prodigies, like Iko, were born with their abilities. Others gained them later in life by some freakish accident. But none of them, at least, as far as Cinder knew, were prodigies because their bodies were merged with technology. It was all purely biological. Strange, but biological.

Iko face-palmed in response to Cinder's protests. "Cinder, these are prodigies we're talking about!" Iko told her frustratedly, "Nothing it weird for them! I mean, look at me!"

A ripple seemed to pass over Iko's body, and her dark skin became shiny and grey. "I can turn into metal! And Kai can sort-of read minds! And don't forget the Council! The Emperor can lift whole buildings, Crime Minister shoots golden energy beams, President Star makes throwing stars appear out of thin air, Primal can manipulate all the elements of nature, Crown Jewel can turn her body into, well, jewel, and General Thunder controls wind and lightning! All prodigies can do something that makes them weird. To us, weird is normal! So stop thinking you'll never belong with us and start realising that you belong with us more than anyone else!"

Cinder put her glove back on and rubbed her arm uncertainly. "That's all well and good Iko, but-"

"No buts!" Iko interrupted furiously, "Listen, New Beijing is holding Rampion trials in, like, two days. You are going to apply and you're going to show the world what you can do!"

"What?" Cinder cried, eyes widening, "Iko, I can't apply! I don't even want to be a Rampion!"

"But I do want you to be!" Iko suddenly deflated and placed her metal hands heavily on Cinder's shoulders. Her eyes were pleading as she looked at her. "Please Cinder. This is your chance. Your chance to get away from Adri, to stop feeling like you have to hide all the time. And really… I just want to be around my best friend. My sister."

Cinder stared at Iko. Her mouth opened and closed like a goldfish, no words coming out.

Iko sighed and removed her hands, finally turning back into flesh. "Just think about it okay?" With one last pleading look, she trudged off, presumably to her security post. Cinder stared after her for a few moments before walking away herself to join the thick crowds that have gathered to watch the parade.

As the floats passed by, Cinder cheered and booed along with everyone else, even though she couldn't muster quite as much enthusiasm.

She was sixteen, old enough to remember the Blood Moon Time, when a group of prodigies known to the world as the Lunars finally grew fed-up with the unfair treatment they, and every other prodigy, received. They revolted against society, toppling governments, destroying whole settlements, and overall causing chaos. During this time, the world became full-on dog-eat-dog, neighbours stealing from neighbours, family killing family, friends selling out friends. Everyone did whatever was needed to survive. And during this time, the Lunars lived like royalty.

The Blood Moon Time lasted for nearly a decade, but it was during this time that the Rampions were born, a group of vigilante prodigies bent on toppling the Lunars and restoring order to the world. And finally, when Cinder would have been around six, they succeeded. They killed the leader of the Lunars, Starstriker, though now the world new her real name to be Channary Blackburn, and the remaining Lunars went into hiding.

Cinder should have remembered, but due to the invasive surgeries she undertook after the car crash, everything that happened before was a complete blank, and her childhood didn't feature hearing heroic tales of the Rampions as much as some of the other people in the crowd.

Finally, last but most certainly not least, came the Council's float, the one Cinder had fixed.

For this one, if only because of some personal connection she now felt to the float, Cinder managed to pour in just a little more energy as she cheered.

The float was draped in royal blue silk and confetti, fire and what Cinder was pretty sure was melted chocolate sprayed out of the nozzles strategically placed on the edge of the float. And standing on the thirty-foot tall pillars, was the original Rampion team, the Council.

There was General Thunder, manipulating a tornado around his pillar and tossing lighting into the air as if it was nothing more than party streamers. Crown Jewel, holding her arms up so that they caught the light, refracting it into rainbows that bounced off her glimmering skin. Primal, who was doing a bizarre juggling act with fire, water, earth, air, ice and lighting. President Star, who was doing something similar with his "throwing stars" that were composed of silver energy and whirled around him in response to his mere thoughts. Crime Minister, who only made her palms glow softly with golden energy as she stood on her pillar, composed as a statue. And finally the Emperor, waving to the crowds with an easy smile on his face. Kai's father.

The screeches around Cinder grew deafening and she adjusted her audio interface so it became nothing more than a soft humming. Allowing herself an ounce of smugness, she studied the Emperor.

He had Kai's dark hair, though whereas Kai's was slightly tousled, the Emperor's was neatly combed. But that was the only similarity as far as Cinder could see. The Emperor's eyes were dark grey as opposed to Kai's soft copper. His shoulders were much broader and his general build much heavier.

Downloading a picture of Kai's mother, the Empress, onto her retina display, Cinder started analysing that for similarities instead. She didn't have to look hard.

Kai shared his mother's eyes, her gentle features and her slight build. Cinder found herself smiling at the picture, and feeling a tinge of grief at the Empress's death during the Blood Moon Time.

She blinked the picture away and was about to turn her attention back to the floats, when she realised the humming was gone. The crowds weren't cheering. Figuring she must have turned down her audio interface completely by mistake, Cinder gradually turned it up again, wary of the deafening volume of the crowds. It wasn't until she reached 50% that she realised something was wrong.

Cinder glanced around at the crowds and saw that their lips were tightly pressed together, their arms set stiffly by their sides. They looked like soldiers, except for their wide, confused, terrified eyes.

Someone laughed in a voice that reminded Cinder of tinkling bells. She glanced around, looking for the source. Turning up her audio interface, Cinder's confusion only grew when she realised the laughter was coming from above.

"Who are you, and why do you interrupt this celebration?" The Emperor's face contorted with fury as he glared at someone standing somewhere behind Cinder. Following his gaze, she found herself looking at a group of four people standing atop a nearby building.

One had wavy dark hair and eyes so dark Cinder could swear they were black. He didn't look physically strong, but he had a confident air about him that put Cinder on edge. Another had dark skin and a smile so irritatingly smug that Cinder wanted to punch it off with her metal fist, but was put off by the cold light shining in his piercing eyes. Another was a tall, beautiful woman, with black hair that reached all the way down to her waist and honeyed skin, though her smile didn't quite reach her eyes. As to what the final person looked like, Cinder hadn't the foggiest idea, since a sheer veil completely covered her face.

The tinkling laughter came again, and Cinder could only assume it came from the woman in the veil, since the other four didn't so much as blink.

"Why, my dear Emperor," The woman said sweetly, bringing a palm up to her chest in mock offence, "don't you recognise me?"

"I would if you weren't such a coward that you wouldn't show your face!" the Emperor snarled back.

"Oh there's no need for insults Emperor." The woman sounded amused as she waved one hand nonchalantly, "I merely wanted to discuss a few things, where all the public could see us."

The Council had stopped using their powers for show now and were readying themselves for a fight. Cinder watched with no small amount of awe as they easily turned what had been merely pretty displays before into weapons for battle. _This_ is what real prodigies were capable of: defending the weak and innocent against those who would do them harm. Meanwhile, all Cinder had was a gift with mechanics and a built-in connection to the internet. Yeah, real superhero material.

The woman in the veil waved down the Council's open show of hostility, showing absolutely no concern over being challenged by these forces of nature.

"Please, we're not here to fight. Like I already told you, I merely want to talk."

The woman threw her arms out wide, gesturing to the people standing beside her.

"We are the Lunars. Before you start attacking us, let me tell you now that we have no wish of restarting the Blood Moon Time. After all, it nearly let to our extinction. No, all we have are a few requests for you."  
"And these are?" The Emperor asked warily.

Cinder could imagine the woman (a Lunar, she thought with a shudder) smiling under her veil.

"The Rampions are the most powerful government in the world, with headquarters in every country on Earth. So, here is our proposition to you. You give us complete dominion over one of the world's continents of our choosing, and we won't restart the Blood Moon Time."

Crown Jewel scoffed at this and eyed the woman disdainfully. "Restart the Blood Moon Time? With only four people? Don't make me laugh!"

"Oh this isn't all of us." The woman assured her, "We are merely the main leaders of the group. In reality we number about 2 000 strong, and we continue to grow. And if you still believe we are not a force to be reckoned with…"

She held out a hand to the dark-haired woman standing beside her, who immediately placed something small inside. The woman in the veil held it aloft, and Cinder could see that it was a vial attached to a chain, filled with some sort of red substance.

"This is a single dose of a little project we have been working on for some time. It has the capability of magnifying a prodigy's powers by as much as fifty times and has already been administered to at least half of our army."

"Your bluffing." President Star yelled up at her, though Cinder was unsettled at the tinge of uncertainty in his voice.

"Are you really willing to take that chance?" The woman asked him coldly. "I will give you two months to ponder what you've learned today. But know this: the longer you wait, the more our army grows and the more prodigies we empower."

"Who are you, to make such demands?" the Emperor demanded.

The woman finally lowered the vial. "I am Levana Blackburn, sister to Channary Blackburn and queen of the Lunars. When you have reached a decision, meet us right here under a full moon. And don't even think about staging an attack. As you can see," Levana paused to gesture to the frozen crowd, "I'm very capable in the art of mind-control."

With that, Levana nodded to her dark-skinned ally, and he spread his hands and shut his eyes in concentration. The four of them seemed to flicker for a moment, and then were gone, leaving nothing behind but their ominous warning.

Cinder stared at the spot where they had been standing and an involuntary shudder ran down her spine. Something told her that the Rampions were going to have their hands full with these guys.

**A/N: And here's the first chapter of my latest story! The idea came to me when I was reading Renegades a few days ago and I started imagining what the Lunar Chronicles characters would be like with superpowers and… here we are! Care to guess what characters the Council are based on? Or what are the powers of Levana's right-hand Lunars? If any of you are confused by Kai's power, I'll explain it further in later chapters ;) . Next chappie is a glimpse into Cinder's home life! What does her family think of all that happened at the parade? Will Cinder enter into the Rampion trials? It'll all be in the next chapter. Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Cinder**

Cinder wasn't in a hurry to get home. After all, it's not like she really wanted to go there in the first place. Adri was going to give her hell when she got back for missing curfew and probably saddle Cinder with enough chores to nearly drain her power cell, but right now she couldn't care less.

A news video was already playing on Cinder's retina display about what happened at the parade. She shifted across several news channels, listening to the actual facts on what happened. She found out that not everyone in the crowd had been taken control of, just most of them, so that explained why she'd been left alone. She also found that all the Rampion security teams had been taken under control, so that was why they hadn't done anything.

The news channels were also very eager to voice their opinions on the Lunar intrusion. Some of them were insulting the Rampions for not doing anything, others were supporting them, calling them "wisely cautious" in the face of several prodigies with unknown powers and one with a noteworthy gift for mind-control. Some of the channels weren't even really focusing on what happened, such as the one that was using the Lunars as justification that all prodigies should be eradicated, or at least put under so a ridiculous amount of restrictions. Cinder rolled her eyes at that one and cut off the net link.

Sometimes she just didn't get humans. Sure, prodigies have caused their fair share of devastation and havoc, but most of them wanted to just live their lives like normal people. Well, technically most of them wanted to become Rampions, but Cinder just wanted to be normal. And its not like prodigies were the soul most evil human beings to ever live. Some of the worst deeds in history were committed by perfectly ordinary humans! But no one payed any attention to that. Many people still saw prodigies as inhuman creatures with about as much empathy as a rabid wolf. Adri was one of them.

Cinder finally reached the door to Phoenix Apartments where she lived with her family. Feeling already very worn-out, Cinder went up the stairs slowly to conserve energy. As she finally reached her floor and walked over to stand in front of the door to the Linh apartment, she paused and took a deep breath, preparing herself for the inevitable scolding and punishment for being so late. She tugged her keys out of her pocket and opened the door.

She had only taken one step into the room when something came barrelling towards her, crashing into her torso and wrapping its arms around her waist.

"Cinder! I saw what happened on the news! Are you okay? Did that Levana lady take control of you?"

Cinder laughed quietly and pat her younger stepsister on the head. "No Peony, she didn't. I was one of the lucky few that could think for themselves."

"Shame. It would have been nice to have a far less rebellious prodigy living under my roof."

Cinder shifted her gaze to the middle-aged woman standing about a meter away with her arms akimbo and her faced pulled into a tight frown of disapproval.

"Sorry I'm late stepmother. I got held back by the whole thing with the Lunars."

Adri tossed her head and snorted. "A likely story! I suppose you were just dawdling and looking into all the shops on your way here hoping to find a way to spend my money."

Cinder grit her teeth. "What do you mean, _your money? _I'm the one who earns all of it!"

"And you expect me to believe that you can be trusted with it? Huh! We'd all be penniless by now if I did! No doubt you'd use it to upgrade your-your-" Adri struggled for a few moments before settling on "monstrosities!" Adri always used that word when describing Cinder's less-human features. She was particularly fond of bringing up how Cinder couldn't cry or blush, neither of which was Cinder's fault. Her tear ducts had been in the way of the wiring needed for her retinal display and facial-scanners, and her inner workings made sure that her body remained at a constant temperature for it to function.

Adri turned on her heel and started marching into the living room. "The air conditioner's down in Pearl and Peony's room. I want it fixed up before dinner."

"Yes mistress." Cinder spat sarcastically before heading over to Pearl and Peony's room.

As it turned out, the problem wasn't too bad, just a rusty fan. There was nothing Cinder could do about it now without a replacement on hand, but she could at least give it some oil so it would run a little smoother. She had just finished when the door opened again and Peony's running footsteps could be heard once more.

"Iko! You're back! Were you really mind-controlled? What did it feel like?"

Before Iko could reply, Adri's unwelcome voice broke in, ordering Iko to stitch up a tear in one of her kimono's. Cinder could imagine Iko mockingly saluting her as she stomped off to Adri's room to have a look at the kimono.

Cinder checked over the air conditioner one last time before following her.

"Look at this tear!" Iko exclaimed once Cinder had entered the room, "It's tiny! I honestly have no idea whether to be relieved or annoyed right now. Honestly, I'm surprised Adri doesn't just shred all her dresses just so I'd have more work to do around here."

Cinder smirked and leaned against the wall. "Nah, Adri wouldn't force you to fix them. More like she'd force me to take on another job so she can afford to replace them."

Iko grinned back at her. "Yeah, and then she'd have me sew the shredded pieces of the old dresses together and sell them on the street."

They both burst out laughing at this and probably would've continued to discuss all the menial tasks Adri makes them do, if not for the rude interruption of the seventeen-year-old girl strutting into the room with her nose in the air.

"You two ought to be more grateful to us." She declared, "We are giving you a roof over your heads, food, beds to sleep in. The least you could do in return is earn your keep and make sure this household runs smoothly."

"Oh please." Iko snorted, "You have all that too, and more, so why don't you have to "earn your keep"?"

"Because I'm not a worthless prodigy like you two." Pearl replied, smiling at the two of them nastily.

Iko's body started to shift to metal with anger, and Pearl gestured to the silvery sheen growing on her skin.

"You see? What kind of creature turns into something as lifeless as metal? Not one that deserves any sort of respect, definitely."

"Our kind work day and night to make sure you can live your spoiled little life safely!"

"Oh and they did a wonderful job of that at today's parade didn't they?"

Iko opened her mouth for a retort, but Pearl had already turned her attention away from her and was now looking down haughtily at Cinder. Or, trying to at least. Cinder was one year younger than Pearl, but already taller than her by several inches.

Pearl shoved a flat, silver object into Cinder's chest. "My laptop's been acting funny. Fix it. And don't bang it on the table this time, my phone is still dented from the last time you "fixed it"."

"Right, right, and would her majesty want fries with that?" Cinder responded in a sickly-sweet voice before tucking the laptop under one arm and walking out the room towards her workshop, AKA, her bedroom.

She shut the door behind her as she entered. Walking over to her work desk, she turned the laptop in her hands so that its edge was facing the table, and let it fall. It landed with a loud bang, but Cinder didn't even flinch. She was used to the noises machines made after she hit them. What could she say, it worked 90% of the time.

Opening the lid, Cinder pressed the laptop's power button. Sure enough, the screen immediately came to life. Cinder briefly considered calling Pearl over to shove the device in her makeup-covered face but decided it would be much more satisfying to wait until tomorrow evening to return it. Pearl's never been without her laptop for that long as far as Cinder knew. It would be interesting (and satisfying) to see how she'd cope.

The door creaked open and Cinder jumped, half-expecting it to be Pearl or Adri. When she saw that it was only Peony, Cinder relaxed.

"I heard a bang. Did you whap Pearl's laptop onto the table?"

Cinder grinned and patted the now functional device. "Maybe."

Peony smothered a giggle and skipped over to Cinder.

"You know," the younger girl said casually, "now that the Lunar's have returned, the Rampions will probably be looking for new members harder than ever."

"Probably." Cinder mumbled back. She could see where this was going…

"Trials are actually happening this week."

"Mhmm."

Peony rocked back and forth on her heels, staring at Cinder out of the corner of her eye. Cinder just opened her toolbox and pretended to be busy.

Finally, Peony dropped the act and gripped Cinder's arm. "Come on, you have to at least try!"

"No."

"But you'd be an awesome Rampion!"

"Peony, I'm not superhero material. I'm as far from superhero material as you can get! My most unusual ability is downloading stuff from the internet into my brain. Not exactly useful in a fight."

"Not all Rampions work in patrol units you know."

Cinder raised her head to see Iko making her way over.

"The council are always looking for prodigies to help with research and development,

the artefacts department, stuff like that." Iko continued, "Your computer-brain would be perfect for that kind of thing! They'd take you in for sure! And even if they don't," Iko paused to wink conspiratorially at Cinder, "I could always pull a few strings and get you into my team with Kai."

"Great skies, you could meet Kai!" Peony suddenly squealed with excitement. "He's so incredibly dreamy! With that hair, and those eyes…" Her voice trailed off into a dreamy sigh. Cinder rolled her eyes. Great, now Peony's in fan-girl mode.

Iko strides forward and slung an arm around Cinder's shoulders. "Aw, come on Cinder! Didn't you think he was at least a little hot?"

Peony gasped. "You've already met him? And you haven't told me yet? Ugh! That's it, it's official: I hate you Cinder. Properly, properly, hate you!"

Cinder chuckled wryly but did find her thoughts drifting back to Kai. He _was_ quite handsome now that she thought of it. And it wasn't the kind of obviously enhanced handsome either, more like he was completely unaware with just how nice he looked and, if he did, didn't care about it all that much. He'd been friendly enough when they talked before and seemed quite nice. It would be nice to get to know him a little better…

Cinder quickly shook off her train of thought. "That's so beside the point. It's all very well saying I can do a desk job, but that's not really helping people, is it? It's not landing criminals in prison and it's not protecting innocent civilians."

"Sure it is!" Iko broke in, "What, do you think we spend the whole time just patrolling the streets looking for crime? We have people on surveillance searching for all that stuff! And the artefacts department has all sorts of awesome prodigy devices and weaponry that the patrol units use on a regular basis. And don't even get me started on all that goes down in research and development! Forensics, development of prodigy weaponry, err, new software…"

Peony placed a hand on Cinder's shoulder. "What Iko's trying to say is that you would make an awesome Rampion, even if you aren't a typical superhero. You care about innocent people, you're brave, you're smart, you're practically a Rampion already!"

Cinder sighed and rubbed her forehead. "That's all well and good Peony, but I still don't think I'll attend the trials."

"Yes you will," the younger girl insisted, "because I've come up with an argument you won't be able to say no to."

"Oh yeah? And what is this argument?"

"That with the Lunars back, I won't be safe until they're gone, and the best way to make sure they're gone is to have more Rampions, and I don't just mean the one's on patrol."

Groaning, Cinder put her face in her hands. She hated to admit it, but Peony's argument _was_ pretty convincing. There was nothing Cinder wanted more than to keep her little sister safe, and she had a point: as long as the Lunars were around, no one would be safe.

Raising her head again, Cinder fixed Peony with a glare. Peony glared right back. The stepsisters had a staring contest before Cinder finally heaved a big sigh.

"Alright. I'll go to the trials."

**A/N: And Cinder's going to try out to be a Rampion! Thank you Peony ;) ! But before that, we have to have a look at what's going on with our other heroes. Next chappie will be focusing on Scarlet. If you have a guess about her superpower, leave it in the reviews! Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Scarlet**

Scarlet parked the delivery truck in the driveway outside the back door of Gilles's tavern. She was late. The Rampions had had her work overtime that evening on surveillance duty.

Scarlet's delivery job would have gone much quicker if she'd used her powers, but the French Rampion code was very strict about their prodigies using their abilities outside the workplace. They took the whole "secret identity" thing way to seriously.

Scowling slightly with annoyance, Scarlet picked up a crate of tomatoes and started making her way to the back entrance. She'd barely gone five steps inside when Gilles stormed up to her, red-faced and glaring.

"You're ten minutes late! What's with the holdup? I've got hungry customers back here who want more than just wilted lettuce and bruised tomatoes!"

Scarlet rolled her eyes as Gilles ranted and walked back to her delivery truck to start picking up the rest of the crates.

"This isn't my only job you know Gilles. I got held up!"

"Well I hope that job pays well, because I'm deducting ten euros of your pay!"

Scarlet whirled around at this and glared fiercely at him. "You can't do that! I'm not running a pizza delivery service here! Just because I'm late doesn't mean you don't pay what you owe me!"

"My business is built on food." Gilles shouted back, "How am I supposed to run it when the food deliveries are late? Ten euros off!"

Scarlet growled and took a threatening step toward the man. The only thing that kept her from punching him then and there was what her grandmère would say when she found out Scarlet had lost one of her most loyal customers.

"I can call the authorities on you for this." Scarlet snarled, "Let's see how well your business does when it gets out the police had to get involved."

Gilles face paled ever so slightly and Scarlet bit back a smirk. Gilles public image was everything to him, and he knew exactly what could make it better, or worse.

He glared at Scarlet for a few moments before folding his arms and sighing. "Alright, I'll pay you the full amount. But only if you do some waitress work for ten minutes. That seems fair, doesn't it?"

Scarlets eyes twitched at the thought of working for Gilles for any amount of time, but she tossed her head and grumbled. "Deal."

Gilles nodded with satisfaction and turned to head back into the tavern. "You can start after you've finished unloading those crates. I should have an order for you by then."

Scarlet briefly fantasised about tripping Gilles up as he stepped through the door but restrained the urge and grabbed another crate.

After she'd finished, Scarlet made her way to the counter to pick up whatever order Gilles had for her. A waitress with honey-blonde curls looked up at the sound of Scarlet's stomping feet and smiled brightly.

"Scarling! Gilles said you would be working with us tonight!"

"Only for ten minutes Émilie." Scarlet replied, "Gilles just can't let a late delivery go." Émilie rolled her eyes in agreement.

"Scarlet!" Gilles shouted over to her. She reluctantly walked over to him and he shoved a plate with a ham sandwich resting on top in her hands. "Give this to the customer in booth nine."

"Yes sir." Scarlet replied sarcastically. She turned, ready to head to booth nine and get this stupid thing over with, when she caught Émilie eyeing her jealously.

Scarlet gave her a questioning look. "What?"

Émilie huffed and folded her arms grumpily. "The guy in booth nine is really hot."

Scarlet blinked at her friend for a few moments before groaning with exasperation. "Seriously Émilie? You literally broke up with Roland last week and you're already crushing on a new guy?"

"Roland is loud and obnoxious!" the waitress protested, "This one seems shy. I've never seen him before tonight, and it's a true shame, let me tell you! He has these eyes that just…" Émilie started fanning herself while smiling dreamily at the mere thought. Scarlet, for her part, remained unimpressed. "Émilie, have you even talked to him? As in, actual conversation?"

"Well, no. Like I said, I've never seen him before tonight but-"

"Do you even know his name?"

"No, but I can just ask."

Scarlet gave Émilie a look and she sighed. "Okay, I know it seems ridiculous, but he's just so handsome!"

Raising her eyes to the heavens with exasperation, Scarlet started making her way to booth nine. She had to admit, she was a bit curious about this guy who was making Émilie go nuts (not that that was very hard) and the fact that Émilie had never actually seen him before only further intrigued her. Their town was small, and hardly a tourist attraction. Visitors were exceedingly rare, so it was always interesting when one came around.

As she neared the booth, Scarlet could make out a feverish tapping, as if whoever was in there had grown impatient. Well, if they were mad they couldn't take it out on Scarlet. She didn't even work here!

But as she finally reached the booth and looked in, she was slightly surprised to find that the man inside didn't appear impatient or irritated. Just awkward, as if he didn't quite know why he was here or what he was supposed to do. His fingers were drumming on the table top as well. Maybe he had some sort of hyperactivity disorder?

He appeared to be quite tall, though it was hard for Scarlet to tell while he was sitting down, and very muscular. His olive-toned skin was marred with scars and he had brown hair that stuck up at every angle. Was he handsome? Yes, in a rough sort of way. But Scarlet didn't feel he deserved her approval just yet. Émilie had said he was shy, and he certainly didn't hold himself with arrogance or ferocity, but the scars gave Scarlet pause. There were so many of them! This guy had clearly been in a lot of fights, and still got into them if the bruise on his cheek was anything to go by. And if being a Rampion has taught Scarlet anything, it's that someone who gets in a lot of fights does it for one of three reasons: one, by protecting others, two, for money, and three, for fun. More often than not it was number three.

Realising that she was staring at him, Scarlet gave herself a quick shake before placing the plate and sandwich on the table. She didn't do it very loudly, but the man jumped all the same.

"Someone's jumpy." Scarlet remarked, raising an eyebrow. The man shifted uncomfortably in his seat and glanced up at her, looking almost apologetic. It was the first time Scarlet could get a clear view of his entire face and found herself agreeing with Émilie. This man had incredible eyes, brilliant green and seemingly glowing with some kind of strange, wild light.

Appearing not to notice Scarlet's astonishment, the man picked up the sandwich and started chomping it down as if he hadn't eaten in weeks. When he asked if he could order another, Scarlet couldn't help bursting into laughter.

"Sorry, sorry." she gasped between chuckles, "But how hungry are you? You just ate an entire sandwich in like, one second and you still want more?"

He ducked his head in embarrassment as Scarlet tried to get a hold of herself, a feat made all the more difficult by the fact that the man's ears had turned bright red.

Still snorting with laughter, Scarlet started making her way back to the kitchens to report that the man wanted another ham sandwich. But the laughter dropped from her lips as though it had never existed when clumsy fingers wrapped around her elbow and the stench of alcohol hit her in full in the face.

"Well lookie what we have here," Said a voice, the owner of which had clearly had too much to drink, "it's Little Red Riding Hood!"

Uproarious laughter rose from one of the tables and whoever was gripping her arm leaned closer to her face. Scarlet leaned away, grimacing in disgust at the person's smell. Roland.

She wrenched her arm out of his grip and continued on her way towards the kitchens, moving faster now.

But the Roland simply stumbled after her and grabbed her again, this time by both arms. "Aw, come on doll, don't be that way!" He slurred in her ear, "We were just getting to know each other!"

Scarlet's eyes narrowed to a furious glare. Okay, he asked for it.

Pulling herself out of his grip yet again, she whirled around and collided her fist solidly with his nose. He stumbled back with a cry of pain, barely catching himself on a table. Scarlet noted to her immense satisfaction that blood was already starting to trickle out of his nose. Served him right for trying to mess with her.

He seemed to notice that something wet was on his face as well, because he hesitantly reached up and wiped a bit of the blood away. As Roland looked at the red stain it left on his finger, his confused face darkened into rage.

Struggling back into a standing position, he regarded Scarlet like she was a red flag and he was a bull. "You're gonna pay for that Little Red."

Scarlet also settled into a fighting stance. If this guy wanted to be beat up even further, then she was more than happy to deliver.

Letting loose a guttural roar, he charged at her. Scarlet tensed, ready to jump to the side, but it turned out there was no need. Because not half a second after Roland had roared, the cry dissolved into a strangled gargling and he stopped in his tracks. Scarlet could only watch in a mixture of fascination and shock as his thrashing body was lifted off the floor. His clumsy fingers pried desperately at the ones currently wrapped firmly around his neck, but to no avail. The one choking him merely looked on, green eyes cold and indifferent to his victim's struggles. It was the man from booth nine.

One of the bars other patrons jumped up from his chair and tried tugging on his arm, yelling at him to put Roland down. The man's only response was to lift his arm even higher.

_You have to get him to stop,_ a little voice in the back of Scarlet's mind whispered urgently. _You're a Rampion! Your job is to stop this kind of thing from happening!_

But Scarlet didn't move, only watched as the Roland's flailing slowed and his face turned blue.

Only when his struggles were no more than feeble wriggling did the man open his fingers, letting Roland fall to the ground in a gasping, coughing heap. Several other patrons swarmed around the body, murmuring worriedly as it spasmed and hacked. One of them turned to the man, glaring at him furiously.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"He was being disrespectful." Was the cool response.

As her shock faded away, Scarlet noticed that the man was, as she'd thought, very tall, about a head taller than herself, and had a tattoo of the silhouette of a snarling wolf swirling along his left forearm.

"What the hell is going on here?"

Everyone's attention left the man to switch to Gilles, charging into the eating area and gazing in horror at the gasping Roland with blood trickling from his nose.

One of the patrons pointed at Scarlet accusatorily. "Roland was flirting with Benoit over there and she punched him in the face. Then _this_ guy…" the finger switched to the man, "started strangling him!"

Gilles, shaking with rage, turned his head slowly to glare at Scarlet, who folded her arms and met his gaze coolly. "I don't take kindly to drunk guys grabbing my arms and breathing in my face. And _he,_" she continued, gesturing to the man, who was starting to look uncomfortable with all the looks being cast his way, "apparently doesn't take kindly to drunk men trying to attack people."

"Get out!" Gilles shouted, pointing one shaking finger at the back door. "Both of you! Get out of my tavern now!"

"I haven't paid for my meal." The man spoke up quietly.

"I don't care! Just get out!"

Scarlet's eyes widened. Gilles usually soaked up extra money like a sponge and he was dismissing a customer without letting him pay? Wow, he really was mad.

Hanging his head, the man shuffled towards the door. Despite seeing him only moments ago nearly strangle a man to death, Scarlet couldn't help but feel a little sympathy to the tall, scarred person leaving the room with his tail between his legs.

As Scarlet approached her truck, she noticed that Gilles had left an envelope on the driver's seat. His payment. Narrowing her eyes suspiciously, Scarlet opened it up and carefully counted the money inside, releasing a short cry of rage upon seeing that he had deducted twenty euros. Ten she could have lived with but _twenty?_

In a fit of fury, Scarlet kicked the wheel of the truck, but all that did was make a loud clang and give her a sore foot, which did nothing to improve her mood.

"What's wrong?"

Taking a moment to compose her face into a somewhat neutral expression, Scarlet turned to see who had spoken.

It was the man from before. His green eyes were narrowed with concern and he had stooped slightly to be closer to her height.

Scarlet tilted her head and studied him for a few moments. He had seemed shy and awkward in the tavern and now he just looked like he was genuinely concerned for her, but she had seen him strangle a man half to death without so much as an ounce of empathy. She wasn't drawing conclusions just yet.

When all he did was continue to stare at her, Scarlet simply gestured to the envelope of money.

"Gilles didn't pay all that he owed me. Probably because I showed up late with my deliveries and started a fight."

The man chuckled wryly at this. "I take it Gilles is the man who kicked us out?"

"That's him."

He tilted his head as though considering and Scarlet raised an eyebrow at him. "You're not going to go back in there and strangle him too are you?"

It might've been just the lighting in the driveway, but Scarlet could swear she saw the man blush.

Tossing the envelope into the shot-gun seat, Scarlet opened the door of the truck and prepared to get in but paused when the man suddenly started walking over to her.

"How much does he owe you?" The words were blurted out of his mouth in a mad rush. Scarlet frowned at him slightly in suspicion but told him.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out several crumpled-up euros. He picked through them for a few moments before thrusting a couple of them in front of Scarlet.

Still suspicious, she took them and counted them out. Twenty euros. Exactly what Gilles owed her.

She glanced up at the man and he smiled sheepishly. "Hey, everybody's got to make a living, right?"

Scarlet glanced back down at the notes, then at the man, then back at the notes, before smiling and sticking out a hand.

"I'm Scarlet. Yes, like the hair, before you ask."

The man stared at her hand for a few moments before taking it and smiling back. "You can call me Wolf."

"Wolf? How… predatory."

Wolf shrugged in reply. "It's more appropriate than you'd think."

Smirking at him, Scarlet stepped into her truck.

"See you around Wolf." With that, she shut the door and drove out of the driveway.

She was replaying the events of the night over and over in her head, trying to think of how she'll tell her Grandmère about it, when her Rampion communicator band suddenly pinged.

Stopping the truck, she lifted her wrist up to her face to read the message:

PEREGRINE, REPORT TO HEADQUARTERS IMMEDIATELY FOR A MEETING WITH THE MANAGEMENT OF THE FRENCH RAMPION BRANCH.

That didn't sound good.

**A/N: Hello Scarlet and Wolf! I used a lot of elements from **_**Scarlet**_** in here (I just loved the way they met so much!) but I hope you liked the little twists I threw into the story. We didn't find out Scarlet's superpower, but we did find out her alias: Peregrine, as well as some stuff about the French branch of the Rampions. How will Scarlet's meeting go? Why does management want to talk to her? Found out next week! Please review! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Scarlet**

Scarlet studied the row of frowning faces across from her. The only thing separating them was a long table littered with papers and coffee mugs, some of which had steam curling from the mouths. Not exactly as neat and organised as you'd expect from the Council of the French Rampion branch.

Scarlet matched each of their scowls with a glare of her own. Her fists were clenched at her sides and it was taking every ounce of willpower not to scream.

"A liability?" she cried incredulously, "How am I a liability?"

"You are reckless, impulsive, and dangerously short-tempered." Replied one of the council members coolly.

"So are many other Rampions!"

"But many other Rampions don't go charging into criminal lairs without backup, abandon their posts leaving certain areas of the community vulnerable and risk discovery of their true identity over the smallest things."

Scarlet huffed and folded her arms. "Fine, maybe I'm a bit of a loose cannon, but I get the job done! I have one of the highest success rates in the branch!"

"But you cause twice as many problems as you fix." A councilwoman replied. "There is no denying your skill Peregrine, but your tendency to make a perfectly neutral situation into a disaster has landed you and this organisation in far too many scrapes over the years. Do you know how many resources we've had to spend on fixing up damage caused by your battles?"

"My powers are pretty limited in case you haven't noticed. It's not like I have telekinesis and can just throw around my opponents with my mind!"

"All the more reason the amount of damage you cause is wholly unreasonable." Snapped another councilmember. "Your power doesn't provide you with a wide scope of offensive abilities, if anything it's on the evasive side, and certainly doesn't warrant the number of roads we've had to replace."

"My opponents are the ones who cause the destruction, not me!"

"And how many of those opponents attacked only due to provocation?"

Scarlet started to shake with rage as the council continued to regard her as if she was nothing more than an annoying fly that they planned to shoo out the window. Unbidden, she felt her power begin to pulse inside of her, tingling in every nerve, throbbing in every cell.

As soon as she felt the rush, Scarlet had to bite back the urge to curse. This was not going to help her case, but if she's learned anything from her seven years of being a prodigy, trying to stop it now will only result in disaster.

So, instead of trying to squash the energy tingling in every fibre of her being, Scarlet let it run its course and she started to hover about a foot above the ground. A few councilmembers raised their eyebrows at her in a way that said, "You just proved our point". In response, Scarlet tilted her chin up at them proudly as she continued to hover. So, she had trouble controlling her powers. So what? Flight is a lot harder to control than people think given that humans are hardly aerodynamic. And when your power is literally fuelled by memories, sensation and feeling of flight, it makes it a lot more in tune to your emotions than most powers. A lot more.

Finally, the councilman in the very centre of the row sighed and eyed Scarlet almost apologetically. "Enough beating around the bush Peregrine. Your reputation of causing disasters and fights wherever you go prompted us to take… certain measures."

Scarlet tilted her head to one side and narrowed her eyes. "Certain measures?"

"Yes. After you were discharged this evening, we tasked Blindside with following and keeping tabs on you."

"WHAT?"

Scarlet shot up so fast she only just managed to avoid banging her head against the ceiling. Blindside was a prodigy with the power to turn invisible. He was generally sent to stake out possible areas of criminal activity and occasionally following someone suspected of being a prodigy. And they had had him follow _her? _She was Peregrine, she didn't need a baby-sitter!

"Calm down Peregrine, we were only doing what we felt was needed." The councilman said in a calming voice. Scarlet only glared at him harder.

"And, as it turns out, it was needed." Grumbled another councilmember. "Blindside reported two infractions on your part: first and foremost, starting a fight in a tavern."

"I'm not the one who started it!" Scarlet protested. The councilmember ignored her.  
"Secondly, you failed to apprehend a suspected prodigy and bring them in for registration into the Rampion database."

Scarlet gaped at the council. Now they were just making things up.

"What suspected prodigy? And I was off-duty in case you've forgotten! Even if there was a "suspected prodigy" I wouldn't have had to do all that stuff you said anyway, so it's hardly an infraction."

"Just because you're off-duty doesn't mean you don't have responsibilities to carry out!" snapped a councilwoman. "Being a Rampion is a full-time job Peregrine, you are never off duty! Or should I call you _Miss Benoit?_" The councilwoman added scathingly.

Before Scarlet could puzzle out what that was supposed to mean, the middle councilman stood up from his chair and held out a hand. "Please hand over your communicator band."

Scarlet frowned in suspicion, but dropped back to the floor and obliged, dropping the band into the councilman's hand. Her wrist felt naked without it.

The councilman set the band down on the table and looked Scarlet squarely in the face, his expression stone. "You have one hour to pack up your belongings from your dorm and return your uniform and dorm key to the front desk. If you have rented any prodigy artefacts out, you must return them within the hour too. As of right now, you are no longer a Rampion."

Scarlet felt herself start hovering again, but she was too shocked to care. The councilman's words refused to compute. She wasn't a Rampion anymore? But… Rampions didn't get fired. In all her life, Scarlet had never known a Rampion to be fired. You couldn't just stop being a superhero, it wasn't that kind of job! She stayed there, hovering, for a few more moments, hoping, _praying_, that one of the council would suddenly jump up from their chair and cry out _"Psych!"_. But they didn't move, only stare at Scarlet with identical expression of disdain.

Choking back a sob, Scarlet turned in the air and flew out the door.

Scarlet did her best to ignore the stares that followed her relentlessly as she made her way to the front desk with a backpack filled with stuff from her dorm and her uniform under one arm. She'd changed out of the Rampion uniform into some plain jeans, a T-shirt, her tennis shoes and her favourite red hoodie. She avoided eye-contact with any Rampion she passed, just in case she saw Blindside. She didn't have her Rampion status to protect her now, and technically someone who attacks a Rampion is, well, a villain, and she doubted that she would be able to resist the urge if she saw him wandering around. "Failing to apprehend a suspected prodigy", Ha! He was just trying to get her in trouble. Well, she hoped he was happy.

Not bothering to wait for the receptionist to notice her, Scarlet dumped her uniform on the desk before digging her keys out of her pocket and dropping those on too.

Shouldering her backpack, she turned to leave. She could always keep working on the farm with Grandmère, and now without all the Rampion restrictions, she could use her powers to help out more so that was something.

A sudden, loud noise pulled her out of her thoughts and caused her to snap her attention to one of the TV screens hanging from the wall. Scarlet only had to watch for a few seconds before she lost interest. It was just another promotion for the New Beijing Rampion trials. She knew the lines by heart now: _"Citizens! Witness countless prodigies showcase their out of this world abilities and fight against seasoned Rampions! Prodigies! Show off your incredible abilities and get a chance to become a Rampion! Each and every prodigy is welcome!"_

Scarlet froze just in front of the revolving door. A passer-by would have thought that she was just sad about leaving headquarters, but that wouldn't explain the growing smile on her face.

Each and every prodigy huh?

**A/N: Finally, I let ya'll in on Scarlet's power! Sure, flight might seem pretty mundane compared to some of the others in this story, but trust me, Scarlet uses it well. And if any of you are wondering why the councilmembers don't have names, well, they just aren't that important and it's very unlikely that you will see them again in this story. Some of you have been wanting to see some Cresswell, and there's a bit of it in the next chapter, but you're going to have to wait a while before Cresswell really starts up so sorry **** . Do you guys think Blindside had been lying about the "suspected prodigy"? Who do you think it is? What is Scarlet planning? All in good time… and by that I mean several weeks because the next two chapters significantly branch away from the storyline's we've seen thus far. Who do you think will be our next star? Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Cress**

Cress hunkered over the keyboard, furiously typing codes and algorithms that would've mystified even the greatest hacker in any military operation in the world, including the Rampions' technopaths and cyberpaths. Normally, this knowledge would've filled Cress with pride, but not today. She was too focused. She _had_ to get this right. It was her only chance.

Several other screens, from computer to iPad, were up and running while Cress worked. Some of them bore loading screens as hacking programmes Cress designed herself worked through layers of inscription, steadily unmasking whatever top-secret information they hid. Others displayed an assortment of databases from the Rampion network, profiles on their prodigies, and even plans for the upcoming New Beijing trials (Cress had no idea why she had been ordered to search those up). The rest of the screens were simply paused video games. Holographic 3D models of various military and Rampion war machines and combat vehicles rotated slowly, with their built-in weaponry highlighted in red. At first glance, the room might seem like the ultimate high-tech office, but a closer look would reveal three closed doors, one made of metal with a retina scanner, fingerprint scanner and security code number-pad, another normal door that led to a small bedroom, and another that led to an even smaller bathroom. This wasn't just Cress's office or workplace; this was her home.

Suddenly, a loud beep came from the metal door and cress shot to her feet, hastily replacing the window displaying the oh so important codes with a much more unassuming file on known unregistered prodigies.

The door slid open with a hiss and Cress could feel the blood draining from her face at the sight of the tall, dark-haired woman who stepped through. She was Cress's mistress and guardian, but also the deputy of the Lunars and a powerful prodigy. Sybil Mira, a.k.a. Double Ganger.

Cress quickly curtsied, trying to ignore the strands of long, tangled blonde hair that spilled over her head and into her face.

"Good day mistress."

Sybil just sniffed haughtily and surveyed the numerous screens stationed around the room, scowling when she caught sight of a game.

"The Queen has given you a new assignment 1-0." Sybil told Cress without looking at her. "I assume you know of our visit to the parade?"

Cress nodded. She'd followed it very closely on the news.

"Good, then you should also know that Her Majesty revealed our possession of the strengthening agent letumosis in order to further motivate the Rampion council into agreeing with our terms. Your job is to hack into Rampion Research and Development and alert us immediately if they are developing a possible counter-agent. Are we clear?"

"Yes mistress."

"Good. Are there any new prodigy prisoners in the Rampion's custody? Any branch will do."

"No mistress, though some of the old ones have been moved to Placen."

Placen was a prison in New Beijing built for holding prodigies. It was under some scrutiny now because there had been several escapes over the past few weeks. Cress called them "escapes" because the truth made her sick to her stomach.

Sybil made a noise of frustration and glared down at Cress (an easy feat, since Cress was quite short).

"It doesn't matter if they've been moved. Unless they can be used for letumosis testing, then they are no use to us. Alert me immediately if any new prodigies are taken into custody. Letumosis must be perfected."

Cress nodded meekly. "Anything else, mistress?"

Sybil walked back to the metal door and started punching in the access code. "No 1-0, that is all. If you have any noteworthy information to report, particularly on the subjects we discussed today, notify me immediately. I will return in three days to replenish your food supply."

With those words, Sybil stepped through the now open door. Cress breathed a sigh of relief when it closed behind her.

She turned back to her screens, contemplating continuing to work on her project, but figured it was probably safest to get to work on her latest assignment.

Hacking into Research and Development wasn't hard. Cress had had to do it so many times over the years that she actually designed a programme specifically for the task. In about three minutes, all the Rampions projects revealed themselves to her. Cress skimmed over the data, only half-searching for a counter-agent to letumosis. She knew that Levana (or, as Cress was supposed to call her, the Queen) had only broken the news two days ago, and unless the Rampions had finally figured out how to make it past Cress's specially designed anti-hacker software, which was very unlikely, they wouldn't know enough about letumosis to counter it. In short, this assignment was plain old paranoia.

Once Cress had finished skimming over all the projects in Research and Development, she spent the next two minutes hacking into the Rampion prisoner files. She scrolled down the list of names until she finally came to the one she wanted and opened up the prisoner's profile. Cress smiled dreamily, feeling herself blush as she looked at the prisoner's photograph. His bright blue eyes twinkled even in the stillness of the photo and he was grinning cockily at the camera. Carswell Thorne, a.k.a. the Captain.

He'd been taken into custody just last week and Cress had immediately begun researching him so she could report to Sybil about this newest prodigy. He was set to be held in Placen for a decade for attempting to steal some priceless prodigy artefacts from the New Beijing Rampion branch, followed by another two decades in Crang, the American prodigy prison, for deserting the American Rampion branch and stealing a high-tech plane, followed by another decade in Girten, the Australian prodigy prison, for stealing an immensely powerful prodigy necklace capable of bestowing the wearer with invincibility. Turns out, stealing is made much easier when your superpower is super speed.

At first, Cress had been disgusted by this criminal and his apparent complete lack of a conscious. But then she dug deeper.

Carswell Thorne's parents had been anti-prodigy and led to them treating their son with disdain before he could even talk. That alone had sparked pity in Cress for the criminal. She knew what it was like to be treated like nothing. But then she found out that, when he was four, he'd set a tiger free from the zoo because it looked sad, and that he sold his mother's necklace when he was ten to make money for his favourite charity, and that he got into a fight with two other boys when he was thirteen because they'd stolen a girl named Kate Fallow's laptop and he was trying to get it back. That was when it finally dawned on Cress. Carswell Thorne wasn't a criminal; he was a hero. And with that realisation came resolve. Cress couldn't tell Sybil about him, what if she thought he was an ideal subject for letumosis testing? No, she couldn't let that happen. She had to protect him. She couldn't, _wouldn't _let a hero like him be subjected to that kind of fate.

Cress sighed and put away his file. Enough gushing over the Captain. She had work to do.

Cress hurried back to the first screen and pulled up the complicated mess of coding and algorithms she'd been working on. She'd actually been working on this project for years. It had all started with a theory, no, a fantasy, of using her powers for escape. Cress had known it was impossible, her ability had its limits. But many of the technological feats Cress had completed over the years had been considered impossible. So Cress had begun her experiments. She made programmes, wrote codes, designed algorithms, invented applications, all for the purpose of making her escape. And now, she was almost finished. The only steps left were finishing her coding, and sneaking the newly programmed chip out of her prison…

**A/N: Cress is here! We've also been formally introduced to Sybil and we know Thorne's alias and superpower. But what are Sybil and Cress's superpowers? And how can Cress use hers to escape? Your only clue is their aliases: Double Ganger and 1-0 (pronounced one zero). Who do you think will be the star of our next chapter? What is letumosis (in this story, not in the actual books) and why is being experimented on with it such a terrible fate? Seriously, I want to know your theories. Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Winter**

"_Sweet Crescent Moon, up in the sky,"_ Winter sang to herself as she dragged the paintbrush across the wall, _"Won't you sing your song to Earth as she passes by?" _

Flourishing her wrist, Winter scattered bright blue paint drops everywhere before turning around and grabbing another paintbrush, this one dipped in purple.

"_Your sweetest silver melody, a rhythm and a rhyme,"_

She dragged her arm across the wall in a wide arc leaving a thick streak of purple in her wake.

"_A lullaby of pleasant dreams as you make your climb."_

Winter reached back with her free hand and grabbed a paintbrush soaked in green and started creating dizzying spirals with both colours.

"_Send the forests off to bed, the mountains tuck in tight,"_

Skipping around to toss away the purple, she picked out a turquoise brush and started making wavy lines across the colourful diorama.

"_Rock the ocean gently, and the deserts kiss goodnight."_

Pirouetting gracefully (and scattering paint drops everywhere in the process), Winter turned back to her art supplies and dropped the paintbrushes, grabbing two handfuls of gold leaf instead.

"_Sweet Crescent Moon, up in the sky,"_

Winter started pressing the shimmering pieces of gold foil all over her design, her movements slowing as the song dwindled away.

"_Won't you sing your song to Earth as she passes by?"_

Winter didn't stop pressing gold leaf to her wall until her hands were empty. She stepped back and admired her handiwork. She smiled happily. It looked nice.

There was a knock on her door. "Come in." Winter didn't look away from her wall as she called out, nor did she tear her gaze away when the door opened or at the sound of marching footsteps, presumable belonging to a guard, crossing her room.

"Soul Blood, the Queen would like a word…" The guard trailed off and Winter glanced up at him for the first time. He was looking at her painting.

"Do you like it?" She asked him, beaming. The guard said nothing, only stared, wide-eyed, at the purple and green spirals, the turquoise lines, the random spots of gold leaf, the blue arcs, and of course the random paint drops which Winter had haphazardly scattered all across the work.

"It's very… unique, Soul Blood." He said finally.

"I painted it to cover the blood stains." Winter told him matter-of-factly, "They have a tendency to appear sometimes after the walls have bled out."

The guard didn't seem to know what to make of this, so he settled for clearing his throat and constructing his face into the statuesque expression that was typical of most guards in the Lunar base. Winter usually didn't really mind. She knew what they were feeling, what they felt about her, the Queen, each other. There was only one guard on whom she hated that look. That empty, stoic look.

"The Queen would like a word with you Soul Blood." The guard stated formally. "She is requesting your presence in the audience chamber within ten minutes."

Winter smiled, though inside her spirit shrivelled with fear. The last time the Queen had requested a private audience with her, Winter had come out of it with blood pouring down the left side of her face in thick, red tears. Winter was reminded of that audience every time she saw her reflection, be it in a mirror, a sheet of glass, or a puddle of water. But she kept her head held high and her eyes bright as she followed the guard out into the hallway. _Nothing terrible like that will happen again,_ she told herself. Winter had done nothing wrong. She would be fine.

As Winter pushed the door open to the audience chamber, her heart skipped a beat when she saw that the guard didn't enter the room with her. But she shoved the thought out of her head and stepped into the chamber, where the Queen was waiting. Levana, Winter's stepmother.

She was sitting on her throne, as usual. She wasn't wearing her veil, why should she? The only perception she had to alter was Winter's.

Shimmering curls of auburn hair spilled down to her midback. Her onyx eyes glittered coldly as they gazed into Winter's golden-brown ones. Her skin was as pale as the moon their organisation was named after, standing in stark contrast to her blood-red lips, which at this moment were curled in a slight frown. Levana was beautiful, the most beautiful woman ever to walk the Earth. At least, that's what she made people think. What Levana really looked like Winter had no idea.

Winter curtsied before her stepmother, breaking their eye-contact with relief. "You summoned me my Queen?"

"Yes." Levana's voice was as cold as ice. Winter felt chilly at the sound. Very chilly.

"You have lived your whole life under the care of this organisation Soul Blood." Levana declared imperiously, "It's time you did something to earn your place with us."

What had started as a chill turned to freezing. Winter didn't know if she had ever been so cold.

"I live to serve you my Queen."

Glancing at her hands, Winter saw that a thin sheet of frost was spreading steadily over her dark skin.

"Good, because I have an assignment for you, one that I believe will suit to your strengths perfectly."

The frost was steadily spreading up her arms. Winter looked down at her feet to see that they too were freezing up.

"The New Beijing Rampion branch are holding trials tomorrow. You are going to try out and join a team."

Winter's fingers and toes were completely numb. She wondered how long it would take for them to start breaking off.

"Join a team?" She echoed back to Levana; her voice was weak from cold.

"Yes. Your abilities will serve to make you a fine spy."

The ice had spread over Winter's chest. Any moment now, her heart would stop.

"I want you to send me a report once a week. I already know the Rampion teams with the highest success rates and their weaponry and other information of that sort. I want you to tell me about their personal weaknesses."

There was a loud snap as one of Winter's fingers broke off.

"Tell me their insecurities, tell me what makes their legs turn weak with fear, what fills their hearts with greed. I want to know about the little inner weak points in their armour." 

Winter could only watch as more of her fingers dropped away from her hands and smashed into tiny shards of frost and blood as they hit the floor and be thankful for the numbness.

"I am aware of the fact that you are unused to these assignments and your knowledge of the outside world is mediocre at best. For this reason, I will be sending a guard with you on this assignment.

Winter gasped and blinked up at her stepmother. She could feel her fingers and toes again, and she still had every one of them. The prickling ice that had spread across her whole body had vanished leaving a warmth that seemed almost scorching by comparison. It hadn't been real, just another vision.

"Can I bring Jacin?" The words tumbled out of Winter's mouth in an almost incomprehensible mess in her haste to speak them.

Levana frowned at the interruption. "_Sir Clay_, I'm afraid, has to remain here at base as Sybil's bodyguard."

"My Queen, please," Winter begged, desperate. "it has to be Ja-Sir Clay. He's the only one who can help with my visions. They are getting worse. I had one just this moment and became a girl of ice and snow. I need Sir Clay with me for when I have another vision out in the real world."

Levana looked down her nose at her stepdaughter. Winter daren't look her in the eye, for fear that such a gesture would lead to the sure denial of her request. She waited for Levana's answer for what felt like an eternity, before, finally, she nodded.

Fighting back relieved laughter, Winter curtsied and bowed her head. "Thank you, my Queen."

"Go up to your room." Levana ordered as though Winter hadn't spoken, "I've already had adequate luggage for your assignment packed for you. I'll send Sir Clay up shortly."

Winter curtsied again and walked out of the audience chamber, fighting the urge to run. Finally, _finally_, after all this time, she'll be leaving the Lunar Base, and with Jacin too! She had no idea how long this sweet, beautiful freedom would last. All she could do was hope it will last long enough to satisfy her thirst and curiosity for the outside world, though she doubted even a decade would suffice for that. But there was a dark shadow underlying her joy, one that she couldn't ignore.

Winter hadn't been lying to Levana when she said that the visions were getting worse, and her mind was… odd, to say the least. It had been ever since she stopped using her telepathic abilities. Seeing everyone's thoughts, even worse, being able to control them was a terrible power that no prodigy should have. Winter knew this better than anyone, and as a result had stopped using her power completely when she was thirteen. But the disuse of an ability so closely tied with the mind doesn't have its consequences. About a year after Winter made her decision, she'd started hallucinating. She saw her dead father, wandering around the halls of the Lunar Base calling her name. She saw monsters clawing their way out of the shadows, roaring for her blood. But, most of all, she saw the walls bleed. The Base was hurting, and no one else could see it bleed.

**A/N: Everyone meet Winter, a.k.a. Soul Blood! Yes, I know that "Sweet Crescent Moon" is more Cress's song, but if any of you have read Wires and Nerve, you'll know that Winter likes it too. Also, if any of you are wondering how Levana expects her to be a good spy when Winter doesn't even use her power, that will be explained later on, as well as what in the world possessed Levana to give Winter a job to do in the first place. We've got one of the boys coming up next, and we're finally going to witness the Rampion trials! Who do you think will be our next star? What will happen at the trials? Find out next week! Please review! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Kai**

Kai's father was sitting at his desk, rubbing his face. Kai himself was pacing in front of the desk, frowning with thought.

"How can the Lunars have been active without our knowledge? And recruiting prodigies as well!" Kai muttered, only half speaking to his father. "We have every known prodigy in New Beijing under constant surveillance, both inside and outside the Rampions, and so does every other branch!"

"It's impossible for us to register every single prodigy Kai." His father sounded tired, a far cry from the confident, strong voice he uses as the Emperor. Now, he was just Rikan Royal.

"We think that the prodigies we have registered into the database right now are only about 45% of the actual amount of prodigies living in New Beijing," He continued, "and there are always people who gain their prodigy status later in life, so it's safe to assume that the number of prodigy residents is growing. There's no way we can keep up with them all."

"Only 45%?" Kai repeated in shock. His father nodded. Groaning, Kai ran a hand through his hair. 45%. They were monitoring less than half of the prodigy population of New Beijing.

"Okay," Kai began, "so they might outnumber us by skies know how much, and they also have a strengthening agent that can supposedly increase a prodigy's abilities by as much as fifty times."

"That chemical agent is particularly worrisome." Kai's father murmured, "Assuming that Levana had been telling the truth about its existence, as well as its properties and current distribution, her prodigies would far outpace ours in terms of power."

"We could steal a sample of the agent?" Kai suggested, "If we could find a way to replicate it, then we can level the playing field somewhat."

This seemed like a good idea to Kai, but his father shook his head. "Too many things could go wrong, and what if the agent has side effects that Levana refrained from telling us? It could make us weaker instead of stronger. The theory is good Kai, but we can't risk it."

Kai huffed a sigh and ran a hand through his hair again. "What if we managed to station a spy among the Lunars? That will tell us all we need to know about the agent and prepare us in case of attack."

Once again, his father shook his head. "No Kai. Given the nature of Levana's abilities, we can safely assume a spy would be quickly discovered and compromised."

Gritting his teeth, Kai took a seat in the chair on his side of his father's desk. He'd been called in here to offer ideas on how to deal with the return of the Lunars, but, so far, every suggestion he'd made had been shot down. His father wanted his opinion to help train him for his role as a team leader while they still could and it was just him and Iko on the team. Well what a fine leader he would make!

As if sensing his son's thoughts, Kai's father reached out and patted him on the shoulder, nearly dislocating it by accident.

"Don't be put off by my rejections Kai, they were good ideas! They crossed through my mind actually, and I'd set about planning how to go about them before I myself realised their flaws." He smiled encouragingly. "The main problem is we just weren't prepared for the Lunars possible return, but live and learn, yes?"

Kai could only nod, shooting his father a small smile for his attempt at finding a silver lining in a situation that was looking more and more bleak by the second.

"You'll make a good leader Kai, once your team fills up." His father continued. "And I don't just mean because of your powers. You're smart, loyal, and willing to put your life on the line for the sake of your comrades. Trials are today. Who knows, you might find some new blood!"

Kai's grin widened and he stood up. "Speaking of which, I'd better get down to the stadium to judge."

His father nodded and stood up too. Together, they walked out the door to the office.

As Kai entered the stadium, his first thought was: _I should've brought some earplugs._

The noise was utterly deafening! Civilians screamed and shouted with excitement on the bleachers surrounding the stadium. Some of them were holding up banners praising their favourite heroes with phrases like: "Knock 'em out Crime Minister!" "You're my brightest star President Star!" "Bring on the storm General Thunder!" "Long live the Emperor!". Music blasted from the loudspeakers outside, where food stands and bouncy castles and carnival games had been set up for the public's enjoyment. It was all in good spirit, but it still hurt Kai's ears.

A white octagon had been drawn in the centre of the stadium. The prodigies who will be trying out will demonstrate their power inside the octagon. Once their power has been demonstrated, the patrol teams will decide whether or not they want the prodigy to join them. If no team wants the prodigy, the council can decide if the prodigy can join under a more technical role. If more than one team wants the prodigy, then the prodigy can decide which team they want to join. If a team challenges the admission of a prodigy into the Rampions, one member of the challenging team will fight against the prodigy. The objective of these fights isn't to knock the opponent out or force them to submit, but to knock them out of the octagon. If the challenger loses, then the prodigy will be welcomed as a full member of the Rampions. If the prodigy loses, they will have to wait for the next trials to have another chance at becoming a Rampion.

About five metres away from the octagon was a neat row of metal cube-like tables. There were two large buttons on the tables, one red and one green. On the front of the tables was the team number and a screen which would show whether a team rejected or accepted a prodigy. When the teams pressed the red button, a red X would appear on the screen, and when they pressed the green button a green tick would appear.

"Kai!"

At the sound of his name, Kai turned to see Iko at table five, waving ecstatically at him. He chuckled at her enthusiasm before going to join her at the table.

"Where have you been?" Iko demanded. "I've been waiting here for ages!"

"I just thought I'd have a look around at all the stuff outside." Kai replied nonchalantly. Iko scowled at him and opened her mouth to question him further but was interrupted by President Star up in the announcer's booth with the rest of the Council.

"Good morning New Beijing and welcome to the Rampion trials!" His booming voice resounded around the stadium and the screams of the crowd escalated in volume. Kai winced and fought the urge to cover his ears.

"You all know the rules: If a patrol team or the Council wants the prodigy, they're in! If the prodigy is rejected, better luck next time! And if the prodigy is challenged, we've got some action! Now who's ready to roll?"

This time, when the crowd screamed, Kai really did cover his ears. Seriously, how is it possible for people to be so loud?

"You know," Iko murmured close to Kai's ear so he could hear her, "Cinder will be trying out."

Kai's eyes widened with shock. Cinder, the pretty mechanic who'd fixed the Council's parade float, a prodigy? Actually, now that Kai thought about it, he wasn't that surprised. After all, who else but a prodigy could have figured out what was wrong with a suddenly and mysteriously broken float?

Kai leaned forward on the table, suddenly eager. What could Cinder's power be? Maybe she was a technopath? Or a cyberpath?

"And now," President Star's voice smashed through Kai's thoughts like a hammer. "presenting our first prodigy, Yin Mara, a.k.a. Flashlight!"

A woman in perhaps her early twenties stepped into the octagon.

"Alright Flashlight, please give us a demonstration of your power."

Flashlight's power turned out to be glowing like the sun. Kai found he couldn't look at her directly since her light was so bright. _Mental note: bring earplugs _and_ sunglasses next time._

She ended up getting accepted into Team Two.

"Presenting Jacob Sano, a.k.a. Slice and Dice!"

Slice and Dice proceeded to turn one arm and one hand into blades. Though impressed, Kai decided against accepting him into the team. The Rampion code stated that criminals should only be killed as an absolute last resort, and Slice and Dice's abilities seemed to leave little room for anything other than killing or maiming.

Apparently, the other teams had similar views on the matter. The crowd booed and jeered at Slice and Dice as he rushed out of the stadium. He passed by Kai's table and Kai reached out a hand, grabbing the prodigy by the arm which was, thankfully, not transformed.

Slice and Dice gave him a shamed, desperate look. Kai met it with a smile.

"Don't worry about it too much. Everyone will forget all about it by tomorrow. I know it sucks now, but you're more than just your powers. Never forget that."

Kai sat down and noted with satisfaction that Slice and Dice seemed to be more relaxed, and even had the beginnings of a smile forming on his face. As he continued on his way to the exit, his pace was much slower.

Iko punched Kai lightly on the shoulder and smirked. "Nice move Diplomat."

Kai just shrugged in reply.

Kai's power was technically telepathy, but it was very, very weak. He couldn't find out about someone's deepest darkest secrets or learn about their past. All he could do was read their fore frontal thoughts, their worries, that sort of thing. He got alias, "The Diplomat" because he tended to use it to find the right thing to say, whether it was to make a person laugh, break out in tears or fly into a murderous rage. It came in handy when he needed to confuse an opponent on the battlefield.

"Presenting Jana Tori, a.k.a. Lightleap!"

Lightleap's power was teleportation. She got a huge round of applause as she popped into different places in the ring randomly. Several teams wanted her in and she ended up picking Team Four.

"Presenting Mara Ling, a.k.a. Bird Mistress!"

As Bird Mistress made hundreds of pigeons form a spiralling cyclone around the ring at her command, Kai couldn't help but congratulate her on coming up with such an appropriate name. She got accepted into Team Six.

"Presenting Winter Hayle, a.k.a. Soul Blood!"

Soul Blood stepped into the ring, a curtain of thick, curly dark hair hiding her face.

"Soul Blood let's see what you… can…" President Star trailed off and, for a few moments, the entire stadium was in silence. Soul Blood had raised her head, allowing for her hair to come away from her face. Her stunningly, incredibly beautiful face.

Her form was slender, yet curvy, with graceful limbs and a long, elegant neck. Golden-brown eyes with grey and emerald flecks glittered warmly from behind her long lashes. Her bright red lips were curled up in a slight smile, in stark contrast with her warm, dark skin. But the thing about her that was most unusual, and in a way the most beautiful, were the three, straight, uniform scars that ran down from her left eye, over her high cheekbones and down to her jawline, like tears.

"Skies." Kai muttered, only half-realising that he was staring.

"You said it." Agreed Iko.

Soul Blood continued to smile up at the announcers' booth, waiting for President Star to find his voice again.

The sound of a throat being cleared echoed through the stadium and President Star attempted to regain his composure.

"Please give us a demonstration of your power Soul Blood."

"Please, call me Winter." Soul Blood-Winter-said with a curtsy. Her voice was musical, like tinkling bells.

"My power is empathy. I can sense what other creatures are feeling and for what reason, and also manipulate their emotions. For example, that poor prodigy a few rounds ago, Slice and Dice, wasn't it? I could sense his shame and embarrassment from the waiting room."

Winter then directed her smile at Kai, who felt his face heat up and fingered with his collar.

"I also sensed when his shame turned into calm acceptance and gratitude."

Though Winter didn't mention that it was Kai who caused the prodigy's change of mood, there was no mistaking what that smile, or the proud twinkle in her soft eyes, meant.

President Star cleared his throat again.

"Do any of the teams wish to have Soul Blood-err, Winter-join them?"

Several of the team screens lit up with green ticks, Kai's included.

"Winter, you now have a choice of which team you will join of the one's who have accepted you."

Without hesitation, Winter walked gracefully over to Kai's table and sat herself down on one of the spare chairs brought to each table for this purpose.

Kai stuck out his hand and smiled warmly at Winter. "Welcome to the Rampions."

Instead of shaking his hand, Winter did something a bit… strange. She threw back her head and howled like a wolf.

Throughout the duration of her howl, Kai stared at her, but not with wonder this time.

When she finished, she smiled at him, apparently unaware that howling like a wolf was a very strange thing to do.

"There was a wolf in the waiting room." She explained.

"Umm… okay…" Kai retracted his hand, eyeing Winter with confusion. He was beginning to think that the beautiful prodigy might not be completely right in the head.

"Presenting Jacin Clay, a.k.a. Guard!"

Winter jumped up and down and clapped wildly as Guard stepped into the ring. Apparently, they had a trend for good-looking prodigies trying out for the Rampions because Guard was very handsome. His long, pale blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail and his eyes were the blue colour of ice. But unlike Winter, Guard's expression held no friendliness. His gaze was dark and serious, and his sharp features were pulled into a scowl.

"Alright then Guard, show off your power!"

Guard's smile didn't quite reach his eyes at President Star's prompt.

"Unfortunately, my power isn't one that I can "show off". So sorry to ruin your little talent contest."

This seemed to catch President Star by surprise.

"Err, well, then, can you _state_ your power?"

"I'm talking to you right now aren't I? Why wouldn't I be able to say what my power is?"

A smattering of laughter ran through the stadium at the joke, which only strengthened at President Star's frustrated sigh.

Guard waited for the laughter to die down before finally speaking again.

"I'm immune to empaths. My emotions can't be read or controlled."

Kai raised his eyebrows and glanced at Winter, but she had eyes only for Guard.

"Do any of the teams wish to have Guard join them?" President Star asked.

Winter gripped Kai's arm and looked at him with pleading eyes.

"Please accept him! Please, please, please!"

Kai sensed thoughts of desperation and longing floating through Winter's mind, and Guard's name, repeated over and over again: _Jacin, Jacin, Jacin, Jacin._

Kai pressed one of the buttons on the table.

Jacin nodded to him and walked over to join his new team.

Winter squealed and threw her arms around him in a tight hug as he took a seat.

Iko grinned and looked back and forth between the two of them. "So… I take it you two know each other?"

"Wow, aren't you observant." Jacin drawled with a roll of his eyes. Winter's only reply was to squeeze Jacin tighter.

Kai chuckled at the scene, feeling very glad that he'd listened to Winter.

"Presenting Scarlet Benoit, a.k.a. Red Comet!"

A girl with curly bright red hair wearing a red hoodie stepped into the ring. She looked relaxed, with her arms folded and her mouth pulled up into a smirk. Kai leaned forward on the table, curious as to what power such a blatantly confident person could have.

"Red Comet, show us your power!"

Red Comet dipped her head at the announcers' booth and her smile grew.

At first, it looked to Kai as though she wasn't doing anything. Then he saw that her feet weren't on the ground. She was hovering in the air, yet she looked as comfortable as if she had both feet firmly on the ground.

Kai felt an impressed grin spread across his face, but Red Comet was far from finished.

She suddenly shot up so high that she was level with the top of the stadium. Then she let herself plummet, accompanied by more than a few screams from the audience, and pulled herself back up again just moments from hitting the ground. She tucked in her knees and rolled over and over a good ten feet up in the air. She twirled and spun. Kai was almost disappointed when she performed one final loop before coming down to the ground, concluding her demonstration.

Kai wasted no time in accepting her, along with almost every other team.

President Star gave an impressed whistle. "Well Red Comet, you've got some choice ahead of you! Which of these teams who accepted you will you join?"

Red Comet studied the teams, her brow creased with thought as she made her decision.

Kai had to resist the urge to read her mind and persuade her to join their team with a few well-chosen words. The girl was skilled, no doubt about it, and would be a great addition to any team. All Kai could do was hope she'd pick his.

"Do you want us to come back tomorrow?" Jacin called out sarcastically earning a slap on the arm from Winter. But now that the silence had been broken, it seemed it wasn't going to be fixed any time soon.

"Our team goes on weekly shopping trips to the mall in case you're interested!" Iko shrieked suddenly, almost making Kai fall out of his chair. Winter clapped her hands with delight at this while Jacin groaned. At their reactions, Kai couldn't help but burst out laughing. Great skies, he loved this team!

Red Comet grinned at their exchange and looked up at the announcers' booth.  
"I'll go with these guys." Her voice held a French accent as she gestured to Kai's table.

Iko and Winter squealed in delight, causing Jacin to plug his ears and grumble under his breath. Kai grinned at his new teammate as she approached and she smirked back, plopping herself ungracefully onto a chair.

"Presenting Cinder Linh, a.k.a. the Mechanic!"

Kai's attention snapped back to the centre of the stadium. Finally, Cinder was on.

As she stepped into the octagon, Kai had to bite back an amused chuckle. She looked as though she'd just come back from a machine shop. Her white T-shirt was covered with oil and grease stains, same went for her baggy cargo pants. Her black combat boots were faded and scuffed, and she was still wearing her brown leather work gloves. Her ponytail was messy, with loose strands hanging over her face. There was also a grease stain on her forehead. She hadn't tried to impress the judges with fancy clothes or makeup or anything. And Kai admired her hugely for it.

"Very well Mechanic. Show us what you can do."

Cinder took a deep breath and let it out in one go. Then she reached for the glove on her left hand and tore it off, raising her bare hand up for everyone in the stadium to see.

Kai's jaw dropped as he stared at it, the sun glinting of its dull metal surface. He imagined he could hear the grinding of gears and the clicking of metal joints as its fingers flexed. The oh so natural action looked impossibly strange on such an unnatural thing.

"I'm a cyborg." Cinder's voice was strong and loud as she announced it to the stadium. "A part-human part-machine. My left leg is also robotic. I have synthetic eyes equipped with scanners and retinal displays that allow me to view images I can download through the net-link in my brain that allows me to look up anything I want from the internet. I also have facial-recognition software and automatically download information on important figures I see, plus a built-in lie-detector and term-recognition software that automatically downloads information on things people say, like a T.V show for example. I hear things through my audio interface which I can adjust to make things louder or even cancel out all noise completely."

As Cinder listed her abilities, Kai felt amazement build up inside of him. An internet link in her brain. Lie-detection. Facial and term-recognition. Adjusting the volume of noises she hears. Robotic limbs. It was incredible!

Kai's hand twitched, already itching to hit the "accept" button. Seriously, how could she _not_ get a spot on the Rampions? Cinder's abilities were downright amazing! He had no doubt that most of the teams would accept her, just like with Scarlet, and that Cinder would have to make a choice. Her adoptive sister was on his team, so hopefully that will be a deciding factor.

"Will the teams accept the Mechanic?"

Kai heard Iko take in a breath as if she was about to speak, but his hand was already slamming down on the "accept" button.

Iko squealed and threw her arms around Kai. Grinning, he looked at the other tables, expecting to see a series of green ticks on their screens. His smile quickly collapsed into a confused frown upon seeing, instead, red crosses. His had been the only team to accept her.

He looked at the other teams to see them staring at Cinder with their faces twisted in disgust.

What's that all about? Sure, Cinder looked a little grubby, but it wasn't that bad!

He shrugged it off. It was none of his concern.

Kai smiled up at Cinder, who was staring at the screen on his table with shock written all over her face.

"Cinder, come on already!" Iko shouted at her, breaking Cinder out of her shocked trance. She grinned nervously and came over to take a seat. Iko immediately enveloped Cinder in a tight squeeze. Scarlet grinned and waved. Winter smiled warmly and nodded to her. Jacin looked a bit suspicious, but Kai figured that was just the way he was.

Kai offered a grin of his own and stuck out his right hand for Cinder to shake.

"Welcome to the Rampions."

Cinder hesitated, glancing at her metal hand before using it to grasp Kai's. His smile widened, despite the strange feeling of shaking a metal hand.

A tiny smile played its way across Cinder's lips.

"Thank you."

**A/N: FINALLY, THE TRIALS ARE HERE! And not only that, but we have Kai, being the open-minded, nice, accepting guy he is bringing Cinder into his Rampion team! [Cue Kaider squeals]**

**Oh, but the trials aren't over yet! We still have one more hopeful prodigy waiting for their turn. I wrote a clue into this chapter as to who it is. See if you can spot it (not that I hid it very well **** ). **

**What did ya'll think of Kai's power? While I was planning this, I couldn't stop thinking about how Kai said he was just a good talker in Winter, and I had to give him a power that fit in with that!**

**We've found out Winter's power too, and finally met her Prince of Sarcasm, Jacin! Now, I know his power is super-obviously linked with Winter's, but I assure you, it's not just lazy writing! There's a story behind it (which won't show up until later in the story. Hey, I've gotta keep you all interested in this somehow!)**

**How will the rest of the trials play out? Was there a reason behind Jacin's suspicious look at Cinder? When will Kai realise that the other Rampions are prejudiced jerks? Only one way to find out!**

**Please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Wolf**

Wolf stared at the giant TV screen installed in the waiting room. It was put there to show all the waiting prodigies what was happening in the stadium. At that moment, a blond prodigy who called himself "Guard" was making sarcastic jabs at the announcers.

Wolf sighed, wishing he had even a bit of that prodigy's confidence. Instead, his legs were jogging ceaselessly with suppressed energy, his palms were sweating, and his heart was pounding with trepidation. And, to top it all off, he was starving.

Wolf glared accusatorily at his hands that were currently resting on his lap. His powers weren't that impressive, and there was no way to demonstrate them either. Well, unless he smiled. Which he absolutely did _not_ want to do.

This felt wrong, on so many levels. For years, Wolf's main goal in life was to hide his powers, to blend in with the crowd (well, as much as one can blend in when you're tall and bulky and covered in scars), and yet here he was, waiting to show what made him a prodigy to an entire city! His brain was screaming at him to get up and bolt out of the waiting room as fast as his legs could carry him, but he stayed seated, trying to ignore the loud cries of his instincts. But it was hard. So very hard. And it definitely didn't help that Scarlet was there too.

The sight of the pretty French redhead in the waiting room had made Wolf want to shout every cuss word he knew, but he held his tongue and purposely took the seat furthest away from her, which happened to be next to that prodigy with the scarred face (he thought her alias was Soul Blood).

He wasn't sure if he regretted his decision or not, because Soul Blood had been a bit… odd, to say the least.

From outside, President Star's magnified voice could be heard in the waiting room.

"Presenting Scarlet Benoit, a.k.a. Red Comet!"

Wolf ducked his head and stared at his tapping feet as Scarlet got up and walked past to get to the stadium, partly to try and not get noticed, and partly to avoid looking at her.

He had no doubt that she would get in. She was strong, confident and brave, among other things. And if, by some miracle, she didn't get accepted, she'd probably punch several of the Rampions.

The thought brought an involuntary smile to his lips.

Wolf stared at the television, barely daring to blink as Scarlet's trial began. Several gasps and impressed cries popped up throughout the waiting room as she showed off her flying ability. Wolf found himself making a mental note of the team she chose.

As another prodigy got called in, Wolf's fingers started twitching with anticipation. His thoughts of when they will eventually call his name were a mixture of dread and longing to just get this over with already. He was tired of hiding who he was, what he was. He wanted to be able to walk freely without having to worry about people screaming in terror. He wanted to be able to smile at someone and not watch the blood drain from their face at the sight of his teeth. He wanted to stop being afraid, and the only way he could do that was to become a Rampion. Still, old habits die hard, hence the queasy feeling brewing in his stomach.

The prodigy after Scarlet had a robot hand, and apparently a leg. Wolf could hear several hushed remarks about her, some impressed by her large scale of abilities, but most of them disgusted at the unnatural sight of technology mixed with a living, breathing creature. She didn't deserve to call herself a prodigy. She's just a robot with a beating heart. Does she even have feelings? Can she understand the pain of losing someone? She shouldn't have entered! A robot can't be a hero!

As the murmurings continued, Wolf shifted uncomfortably in his seat. This wasn't helping with his anxiety.

Looking at the girl's face on the screen, he was surprised to see his own fears mirrored in the girl's eyes. Her expression was determined, her voice confident, but Wolf could tell that, really, she didn't want to be there, mainly because of little pieces of body language he recognised in himself.

This realisation sparked a tiny ember of pride in Wolf, since he was normally utterly terrible at reading emotions.

When the prodigy got accepted, Wolf felt as though he was the only one not questioning her new team leader's judgement. Hey, if anyone knew what it was like to be "unnatural" it was him.

"Presenting Ze'ev Kesley, a.k.a. Wolf!"

Bile rushed up Wolf's throat as his name was called. He swallowed it down quickly and, squaring his shoulders, stood and walked into the stadium.

Wolf couldn't suppress a wince as the noise of hundreds of screaming people bombarded him from all sides, triggering a headache. Great skies, why were humans so _loud?_ It's a miracle they aren't all deaf!

He kept his gaze trained on the ground as he stepped into the white octagon. Once he was roughly in the centre, Wolf stared up at the announcers' booth with his arms folded across his chest. He didn't want to look at the teams, or, more accurately, _Scarlet_, just yet.

For some reason, Wolf felt guilty he hadn't told her he was a prodigy. He had no idea why. It wasn't like she'd told him she was a prodigy. Still, he felt as though he'd done something wrong.

"Now, normally I'd ask you to give a demonstration of your power, but first I and my fellow Councillors just like to clarify something."

President Star's voice through the loudspeakers sounded screechy and rough to Wolf's ears. He winced again.

"On your application, as your superpower you put: "Partial wolf DNA". Would you mind elaborating on that for us?"

Wolf raised an eyebrow. They wanted him to elaborate? It seemed pretty straight-forward to him.

"It means my DNA is part wolf." He replied, relieved that his voice remained steady.

"And?"

Wolf frowned. This was getting confusing.

"And what?"

"What do you mean by your DNA is part wolf?"

"I mean that it's part wolf."

"I'm afraid that's impossible. Prodigies may bear animalistic traits from time to time but their DNA never differs from human apart from a few slight mutations that allow for their abilities."

"You can check it if you want. I'm a wolf hybrid."

"I already told you that's impossible. Just give us a demonstration of your abilities."

Wolf bit back a growl. He'd come in here feeling apprehensive and scared, but now he was just annoyed.

"I have enhanced strength, speed, stamina, and senses," Wolf said through gritted teeth, "and I also have fangs."

"Fangs eh? Why don't you give us a grin to show them off!"

Not at all in the mood for smiling, Wolf instead peeled back his lips in a silent snarl, putting his sharp canines in full view.

"There, now if you just put that stuff on your application instead of that stuff about your DNA, this would've gone a lot smoother."

Wolf's hands clenched to fists by his sides.

"Which of our teams will take Wolf into their ranks?"

Forcing himself to look away from the announcers' booth, Wolf stared at the team screens. A few green ticks showed that he'd been accepted. One of the teams who wanted him on was also Scarlet's. Wolf had no idea how he felt about that.

"Alright Wolf, you get to choose which team you're-"

President Star's voice was cut off by a loud bang.

Wolf's attention instinctively jerked to the source of the sound. He saw a humongous prodigy with the biggest muscles Wolf had ever seen and a set of bear's teeth implanted in his forehead with one fist on the table. He'd obviously slammed it down on the table top.

The prodigy stood and grinned at Wolf, who immediately tensed. That had not been a friendly grin.

"We challenge the acceptance of Ze'ev Kesley into the Rampions on the grounds that we do not think he's being honest about his prodigy status!" the hostile prodigy roared.

The crowd screamed its loudest cheer yet and Wolf had to fight the urge to cover his ears.

President Star's voice could barely be heard as he asked the prodigy, "What makes you think he's lying about his status Hunter?"

Hunter snorted and gestured at Wolf.

"Look at him! His strength, speed and stamina is obviously "enhanced" just through a lot of time spent at the gym! And as for his teeth, they could just be implants! Come on, he's obviously lying! He already lied on his application about that "wolf DNA" junk!"

The crowd whispered amongst themselves, clearly debating Hunter's point. Even some of the teams were casting Wolf suspicious looks.

"Alright then!" President Star, seemingly unwitting of the unrest within the stadium, announced cheerily. "We've got a challenger! Our two prodigies will now fight within the octagon drawn in the centre of the stadium. The purpose of this fight is not to knock out the other prodigy or draw blood, but to get the prodigy out of the octagon. If the challenger wins, then the hopeful prodigy won't get a spot in the Rampions. If the challenger loses, we welcome a new Rampion! But enough stalling, let's get to it! Everyone, I present to you, Hunter vs Wolf!"

Hunter grinned wickedly as he stepped into the octagon.

"D'you know why my alias is "Hunter"?"

Wolf didn't answer, only narrowed his eyes just slightly.

"It's because, every time I kill an animal…"

A long, curved fang suddenly sprouted out of Hunter's knuckle.

"I get their teeth. Why don't I add yours to my collection?"

Wolf growled.

"Begin!" President Star boomed.

Hunter instantly charged at Wolf, who stayed his ground right up until Hunter swung a fist at his head. He crouched out of range and swept out one leg, trying to trip Hunter up. But he saw it coming and simply grabbed Wolf's outstretched leg, squeezing it so tight Wolf could swear he heard the bones cracking.

Wolf kicked out with his other leg, catching Hunter in the stomach. The larger prodigy coughed and doubled over, allowing Wolf to drop back onto the ground. Rolling into a crouch, Wolf lifted his gaze, intending to study his opponent. Hunter was recovering quickly, already getting back to his feet. He shifted his position slightly and Wolf found himself looking past his opponent. Right. At. Scarlet.

Her brown eyes were wide, with interest or fear Wolf couldn't tell. She was leaning forward on her table, trying to see the fight better. All her attention was on Wolf and Hunter

_Defeat the challenger. Impress the female. Win the female's heart. Defeat the challenger._

Wolf forcibly shook his head, struggling to clear his thoughts. He could feel the wolf inside of him struggling to take control, to make itself known, to force him to listen to instincts a normal person wouldn't-_couldn't_-possess. He was losing control.

What felt like a battering ram slamming into his ribcage brought him back to the present. He was in a fight against a seven-foot-tall prodigy who seemed to be made of roughly 90% muscle and could sprout teeth from his knuckles. A prodigy who Wolf suspected wanted to kill him for his teeth. Not exactly a good time to be distracted by a pretty face.

Forcing himself to ignore the fire burning inside his chest, Wolf threw a solid punch at Hunter's jaw, sending him reeling. Wolf took full advantage of the distraction to land another punch on Hunter's nose. There was a loud crack and when Wolf pulled back his fist it was wet with Hunter's blood.

The giant prodigy reached one hand slowly up to his face and wiped at the red liquid pouring from his nostrils. He looked at his stained fingers, and when his gaze once again met Wolf's, there was a new ferocity in his eyes.

"You're going down puppy." Hunter growled.

Wolf tensed and narrowed his eyes.

With a wild cry, Hunter swung at Wolf's face. Wolf raised his arm to block it, but Hunter just seized the limb with his free hand. A split second later, Wolf howled in pain and agony as a sudden searing pain travelled up his arm.

Instinct kicked in and he thrashed and struggled in Hunter's grip, desperate to escape the agony being inflicted upon him.

Dimly, he heard shouting and screaming. Were the crowds honestly applauding his pain? Or was it outrage he was hearing? He couldn't tell. He was starting to feel dizzy. The only thoughts going through his head were impulses, urges, instincts.

It was those instincts that made him suddenly lunge forward, open his mouth, and sink his teeth into Hunter's flesh.

Hunter cried out with pain and instinctively shook Wolf of his arm, sending him sprawling mere feet away from the edge of the octagon. Wolf got the strange feeling that it was important he didn't cross that white line, though he couldn't quite recall why. All he knew was he was in a fight. And that he. Must. Win!

Roaring with beastly rage and aggression, Wolf lunged at Hunter, driving a fist into his face. 

_Fight. Kill. Win. Defend title. Become alpha. Win._

Hunter groaned and staggered back. Wolf grinned with wild, chaotic pleasure. The challenger was showing weakness. He was winning!

_Become alpha. Fight. Win. Kill._

Wolf dove for Hunter's legs. He had to cripple him. Make him unable to move. He gripped one and tugged it sharply, bringing Hunter to the ground.

_Win. Kill. Defend title. Fight. Impress female._

Wolf placed one foot on Hunter's ribcage, ignoring the way his own ached and stung. He growled.

_Fight. Impress female. Become alpha. Kill. Impress female._

Wolf placed his other foot on Hunter's throat.

_Impress female._

A muffled gasp snatched Wolf's attention away from his opponent. It had come from a girl with bright red hair sitting behind a big metal table. She had one hand pressed over her mouth. Her eyes were wide. With horror. With fear.

The sight was like a smack to the face, waking Wolf up. He wasn't a wild animal, he didn't have to kill Hunter, and he certainly wasn't going to impress any female by doing so.

He stepped off of Hunter's body and picked up one of his legs. The giant prodigy didn't move as Wolf dragged him across the ring, nor did he react when Wolf tossed him outside the white octagon.

There was no reaction from the crowd either, nor the teams, not even President Star had anything to say. For the first time that day, the stadium was in utter silence.

Wolf pretended not to notice everyone staring at him, instead inspecting the wound on his arm. Hunter must have sprouted some kind of fang through his palm when he'd grabbed Wolf. Judging by how much blood was pouring from the torn flesh, it had been a pretty long fang.

Wolf gripped his own arm and squeezed tightly, slowing the flow of blood from a river to a slow trickle. There was blood in his mouth too, but Wolf was pretty sure that was all Hunter's.

The thought was enough to make him retch.

Everyone else in the stadium seemed to take that as the cue to finally break the silence. The bleachers erupted with cries of rage and fear as the audience finally got over their shock. The noise alone was enough to make Wolf cringe, but the words made him want the ground to just open up and swallow him then and there.

"Monster!"

"Beast!"

"Get him out of here!"

"Throw him in Placen!"

"Keep that thing away from my children!"

Wolf's grip tightened around his wound. This was why he didn't want to reveal himself. This was why he hid. To the public, he was a monster.

He didn't bother looking at the teams. He was willing to bet money that their views were much the same as the crowd's. Also, he just didn't want to see that look on Scarlet's face again. That terrified, revolted look.

Wolf didn't bother moving quickly as he made his way to the exit. He doubted he could even if he wanted to. He'd already lost too much blood, and the fight had left him drained and tired.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder. Wolf didn't have to look to know who it was. The smell of fresh soil, green leaves and cinnamon was unmistakable. Scarlet

He turned his face away from where she was. He didn't want to face her right now.

There was a quiet whoosh of air and then she was standing in front of him, arms folded and her face set into a scowl.

Wolf stopped in his tracks and looked down at his feet, avoiding her gaze.

"Would you mind explaining what in the skies happened just then?" Her voice sounded sharp and irritated.

"I lost control." Wolf spoke quietly, half-hoping Scarlet wouldn't hear him and demand an explanation.

No such luck.

"What do you mean "you lost control"? Do you just lose your mind every time you get into a fight or something?"

Wolf sighed and resisted the urge to raise his eyes to the heavens. He really didn't want to have this conversation.

"My brain is literally part wolf." He eventually replied. "Sometimes in certain situations, that part kicks in and I'm essentially a wild animal mentally until something snaps me out of it. I can't control when I lose it, otherwise I wouldn't be standing here with someone else's blood on my teeth. I hate it, but there's nothing I can do about it."

His explanation finished, Wolf lightly stepped around Scarlet and, summoning the last of his energy, dashed out of the stadium before she could ask any more questions.

**A/N: Well. **_**That**_** was intense. **

**So Wolf didn't get into the Rampions. More than that, pretty much everyone in New Beijing wants him locked away and/or dead. Not exactly what you'd call a good first impression. And what about Scarlet? What does she think of all this? Is Wolf a monster in her eyes like with the rest of the populace? **

**Next chapter, we're introducing a new star. But who will it be? Find out next week! Please review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Thorne**

Thorne lay in his cot with his hands behind his head, staring at the stark white ceiling. For some reason he didn't really understand, everything about the Rampion holding cells was white: white floor, white walls, white ceiling, white sink and white toilet and a white cot with white sheets. Even the prison uniform was white. In Thorne's honest opinion, the interior designer for these cells should have been fired as soon as he'd drawn up the concept sketch. Really, all the white did was hurt the eyes and show off dirt to its worst advantage. Also, it was an insanely boring colour. Thorne was pretty sure he'd go crazy just from the strain of having nothing to occupy himself with. Maybe if they'd given him a mirror…

His thoughts were interrupted by the cell-door opening. A Rampion strode inside and frowned at Thorne suspiciously. Thorne met the look with a grin.

"Well, well, well," Thorne mused, studying his new visitor. "never thought I'd think of that boring grey uniform as colourful. Then again…" Thorne gestured to his sparse cell.

The Rampion's frown only deepened. "Your presence has been requested by the Emperor."

"Is that superhero speak for "I have a meeting"?"

Thorne's grin widened as the Rampion clenched his jaw.

He removed a set of handcuffs from his belt, but instead of fastening them around Thorne's wrists, he grabbed the prisoner's ankles and latched them together.

Thorne glared at the handcuffs (ankle-cuffs?). Darn it, he'd hoped they'd forgotten about his powers.

The Rampion pretty much dragged Thorne out of the holding area and into the elevator. Thorne made no effort to make things easier for him. What did they want him to do, hobble his way to his meeting with the Emperor? Ha!

The Rampion was still dragging Thorne when he pushed open a set of double doors and marched into what was probably the biggest office Thorne had ever seen.

A magnificent diamond chandelier hung from the ceiling, casting flecks of rainbow light all over the room. A plush red carpet with gold depictions of dragons and woven into it spread across the whole floor. The walls were covered in numerous paintings: Some artistic depictions of glorious sunsets and lush forests, others portraits of the Emperor or a woman and young boy Thorne didn't recognise nor particularly care about. What he did care about was how valuable the paintings would be on the black market.

The Rampion who'd brought Thorne inside the room suddenly pulled him roughly to his feet. Thorne stumbled as he attempted to regain his balance while his chaperone introduced him.

"The Captain sir, as you requested."

Thorne looked up to see the Emperor sitting behind a large mahogany desk with gold trim. Standing beside him was a teenager that bore a remarkable resemblance to the boy in the paintings. Must be his son or something.

"Thank you Mercury. You're free to leave."

The Rampion gave a quick salute before marching out the room.

Thorne watched him go before turning to face the Emperor and his son.

He flashed them his most charismatic grin. "If you called me up here to give you advice on redecorating your cells, I've got plenty of suggestions."

The Emperor's eyes narrowed. "Do you honestly believe that I would summon you for an audience to hear your opinion about the holding cells?"

Thorne shrugged. "Well it's not like there're many possible reasons to choose from."

"You've been brought here because I have a proposal for you."

"Oh, how nice! Where's the ring?"

The Emperor's eye twitched. Thorne tried to look innocent, but his mouth kept twitching with a desire to laugh. What? It's not his fault he's so incredibly funny!

The son stepped forward and addressed Thorne directly. "Carswell Thorne-"

"That's _Captain_, to you." Thorne butted in.

"Fine. _Captain_, I am Kaito Royal, also known as the Diplomat. My father believes that, in order to gain a shred of redemption for your past crimes, you should become a member of my team."

Thorne raised an eyebrow. "You want me to join your little super-gang?"

"I believe that _the Rampions_," replied the Emperor, putting emphasis on the name, "would benefit greatly from your unique skill set and powers. With an ability like super speed, you are uniquely qualified for tracking down criminals with access to getaway vehicles since, as of this moment, our organization doesn't have the means to send vehicles to our teams on short-notice."

Thorne's eyes flicked back and forth between the Emperor and the Diplomat, studying them, judging them.

Finally, he shrugged. "Sure, why not. It'll get me out of jail."

Thorne walked beside the Diplomat (or "Kai" as he insisted on being called), taking long strides and revelling in the loss of the restraints on his legs.

"Hey Kai?" He spoke up, "Mind if I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead."

"How gullible do you and your dad think I am?"

Kai stopped in his tracks and gave Thorne what he guessed was meant to be a confused expression. "I don't know what you mean."

Thorne rolled his eyes. "Please, it's not like you two are professional con-artists. You guys need me for something specific, don't ya?"

"We just think your skills would be a big help in our goa-hey!"

Thorne fiddled with the gun he'd plucked from Kai's belt, studying it from every angle. "Yeesh, you'd think an international superhero organisation could provide their lackeys with some better weaponry."

Kai reached out to snatch the gun from Thorne's hands, but Thorne just ran around him.

He clucked his tongue with mock sympathy. "You're going to have to try harder than that if you wanna steal from me Kai."

Kai lunged for him again, but in the blink of an eye Thorne was at the other end of the hallway.

"You know how your dad was blabbing on about how my speed will make it easier to catch criminals?" Thorne called over to him, "Well, it also makes it hard for people to catch _me._"

Thorne looked casually down the branching corridors on his end of the hallway, scratching his chin with the gun handle. "Wonder how long it'll take me to find where you keep all your other toys here? Hopefully they're not all as bad as this excuse of a gun."

Kai sighed and ran one hand through his hair. "Look, I'll tell you why you've been brought back in, just so long as you behave, got it?"

"How do I know you're lying?"

Kai smiled hopelessly and spread his hands. "You don't. But if it means you won't go looting the place I can tell you the pay here is five times the minimum wage for new recruits, and it gets bigger as you climb the ranks."

Thorne tilted his head, considering. The money _was_ tempting…

He shrugged and dashed back to Kai's side. "Alright, deal. Now spill."

Kai's smile turned relieved. "Great. So, there was this prodigy at the trials, okay? And his powers were basically advanced everything: strength, speed, stamina, the works. He would've made a good Rampion, if it weren't for the fact that he was also a little… unstable. He nearly killed one of our strongest members during a challenge duel. We would've taken him into custody then and there, but he ran out of the stadium and has pretty much vanished. And with your speed…"

"So let me get this straight." Thorne said, holding up his hands. "You want me to track down and arrest the psychotic prodigy that might very well try to kill me."

Kai fingered his collar, looking very uncomfortable. "Well, I wouldn't say he's _psychotic._"

"You just said he tried to kill a guy!"

"He did, but I don't think he was a hundred percent aware that he was doing it. Well he _did_ know he was doing it, but he couldn't control it, you know?"

Thorne blinked at him. "You've lost me."

"Well, his abilities seem to be somewhat animal-related, and that also affected his thought process I guess? Basically, he was just doing what his instincts were telling him to do. I could hear them going through his head actually! I think the animal part of him was trying to assert their dominance and, err, other stuff."

Woah, woah, woah, time out!" Thorne cried. "You can read minds?"  
"Only fore frontal thoughts!"

"That's still something you should tell your new teammate!"

"I was going to when we met up with the rest of the members!"

"Oh, and that makes listening to all my thoughts on the way okay?"

Kai heaved a sigh and ran one hand through his hair. "Okay fine, I should have said something earlier. Happy?"

"Not really, but you already know that."

Kai sighed again. "Well I guess I should also warn you that there's an empath on the team so your emotions won't be private either."

Thorne threw up his hands and spluttered with indignation.

"If it makes you feel better, everyone else on the team has to put up with it too. Well, except for this one guy who's immune to empaths, but he's still stuck with my telepathy!"

Thorne pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned. "So I'm stuck on a team with a mind-reader and an empath and have a mission to apprehend a guy with an animal brain."  
Kai had the decency to look sheepish as he nodded.

Thorne groaned again.

He felt Kai pat him on the shoulder, but didn't look up.

"There's actually another assignment I had planned for you, but I get that you've already got quite a bit to digest already…"

"Just tell me already mind-reader."

"I was wondering I you could get a piece of your target's DNA while you're hunting him? He mentioned at the trials that his DNA is part wolf. The Council just thought that he was lying or deluded, but after hearing his thoughts… well, I just want to be certain."

Thorne sighed. "Steal the hair of a werewolf. Sure, why not."

**A/N: Stars, it's so fun to have Thorne irritate people!**

**Wolf has attracted unwanted attention from the Rampions, and they're making poor old Thorne go after him (and putting him on a team with no respect for privacy either. He'd have been better off staying in jail). Will Thorne succeed in his task? Or will he just spend the rest of the story bemoaning his fate? (As if I'd do that to you guys ;) )**

**Next week, we're fighting crime with Winter's overprotective, over-sarcastic guard: Jacin! **

**Please review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Jacin**

"Okay, so we'll start the tour with just the recreation areas where you guys can chill whenever you're not on missions." Kai said, leading the way.

Jacin made a mental note of the hall they went down, not because he wanted to "chill" but because he wanted to remember that this was one of the areas of the HQ that could be ignored. Honestly, why does a superhero organisation even have recreation areas? If its members want to relax, they can relax at home!

A guy with brown hair who insisted on being called "Captain" spoke up. "Does our pay go down if we just stay in the chill places all day? Cus' I'd definitely prefer taking a nap over running around getting shot at by bad guys."

"Uh, you do realise that's kinda what this job is about right?" A girl with curly red hair replied with one raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, but I like to keep my options open."

Jacin jogged over to Kai and leaned down to murmur in his ear. "Why is that guy with us again? I thought you said he was a criminal!"

"The Council decided that he deserves a shot at redemption." Kai whispered back.

"But why him of all their prodigy criminals? The skies know he certainly doesn't seem the redeemable type."

"Thorne's power is super speed. That can prove to be incredibly useful when tracking down villains."

Jacin narrowed his eyes. The excuse was weak. Obviously the Council had another reason to put Thorne on the team. And if the reason was classified, that had to mean it was important. Maybe Thorne had dirt on the Council and blackmailed them? Or perhaps he had an ability other than speed that they wanted to have at their disposal, like invincibility. Jacin would have to look into that further, and it made Thorne's originally low perceived threat-level become much more questionable.

The first thing Jacin did when he met up with his new team was assess their individual threat-levels. Kai told everyone his power was telepathy but was also quick to assure everyone that it was weak and he couldn't spy on their secrets. Assuming he had been telling the truth, Jacin didn't see him as much of a threat. The girl with blue-braided hair though, she might need watching. The power to turn into solid metal could cause some serious damage if used offensively. The other prodigy that could pose a proper threat was the red head. Flight normally wouldn't worry Jacin, but she had displayed some uncanny control over her ability during the trials. The only wild card in the team (other than Thorne) was the cyborg girl. It was safe to assume that adjustments could be made to her body to make it more suited for combat. And this might just be Jacin's paranoia talking, but she looks very much like…

Suddenly, Jacin felt fingers wrap around his hand.

"Come on Jacin!" Winter chirped, dragging him ahead of the group. "I want to see what the fun places are like!"

"Winter, slow down!" But of course protesting was useless. It always was with Winter.

So Jacin allowed himself to be dragged down the hall and through the double doors at the end to find… a lounge.

It was a very fancy lounge, with plush cushions neatly arranged on the sofas, a small snack bar and even a few arcade machines. Prodigies lay sprawled on the sofas, sipping coffees, or playing on the machines. Still, Jacin couldn't help feeling slightly underwhelmed. This was the _Rampions_, the largest organisation in the world! Well, other than the Lunars.

Winter seemed satisfied though, and skipped over to the snack bar to help herself to a cookie. Jacin just stood where he was, studying the prodigies already in the room. That reptilian guy had some pretty wicked claws, and those teeth look like they can do some damage too. But he seemed to be asleep, so he shouldn't pose much of a threat at that moment. That other prodigy making those flames do loop-de-loops was obviously a pyrokinetic. That could be dangerous, but as far as Jacin could see he was just trying to impress a female prodigy with wings sprouting from her shoulder blades. That seemed to be her only prodigy asset, so Jacin didn't need to worry about her. The other prodigies didn't have any obvious indication to their abilities, a fact that frustrated Jacin to no end. He'd have to find a way to gain access to the Rampion prodigy database, so that he could assess which of the recruits post the biggest threats. Come to think of it, he should look at all their known prodigies: Rampions, criminals and ordinary civilians. You never know who the biggest threat might be.

"Well I see you've found the lounge." Kai's voice came from behind.

Jacin turned to see the rest of his team standing in the doorway. Thorne was studying the room and nodding with approval. "Oh yeah, I can work with this."

"I know! Isn't it awesome!" the girl with blue-braided hair squealed happily.

"Why does a superhero organisation have arcade machines?" The cyborg asked. Thank the skies, someone with a scrap of sense!

The red-haired girl shrugged. "Eh, I'm not complaining."

Kai brought his hands together and rubbed him in anticipation. "Okay! Well, the dorm rooms aren't far so why don't we check those out next?"

"We're expected to live in the headquarters?" Jacin asked.

"No, the dorms are just a place for you to go in case you want some alone time."

Upon hearing this, Winter skipped over to Jacin and looped her arm through his. "Don't even think about staying in your dorm all day long Jacin, I'll need your help decorating mine!"

The red head raised an eyebrow. "You two seem familiar with each other."

"We've been best friends since we were little!" Winter chirped happily. Then she tilted her head and regarded the other girl curiously. "I'm sorry, I can't seem to recall your name."

"Scarlet."

Winter smiled and reached out a hand. "Pleased to meet you Scarlet-friend."

Jacin scowled as the two girls shook hands. He'd have to talk with Winter later about making friends with their "colleagues".

Thorne grinned and zipped around so that he was standing next to Jacin. "Best friends, huh?" He asked, "Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight."

Jacin gave him his best glare. Okay, it's official: he hated Thorne.

Winter, seemingly oblivious to what Thorne had just implied, glanced around the room.

"I've just realised something Jacin."

"And what would that be Trouble?"

Winter grinned at his use of the nickname. "We've been in this building for half an hour and the walls haven't bled once!"

_That_ drew several stares. Jacin would have to talk to Winter about mentioning her hallucinations in public as well.

"Winter and I used to live in a pretty cruddy place, and someone had tried painting the walls red but couldn't be bothered to finish so it kinda looked like they were bleeding." Jacin hurriedly explained, "Winter just sometimes imagines that effect on other walls as well, that's all."

It wasn't a very good lie. Jacin should've come up with a proper story to cover Winter's hallucinations before they came here. But hopefully it would be enough to draw the attention of Winter for a bit. Because Winter was more than just Jacin's best friend. She was his princess, and he was her guard. And he would do anything, _anything_, to keep her safe.

**A/N: Winter and Jacin are such total opposites! It's so funny to write them together!**

**So the gang is all together (well, apart from Wolf and Cress) and they're checking out their new home away from home. And so far, Jacin is less than impressed. At least Winter is happy. **

**Will Jacin really be able to protect Winter? Who does he think Cinder looks like? Where am I going with this story now?**

**Please review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Cinder**

Cinder really wished that her new uniform included gloves.

The Rampion uniform consisted of a dark blue, almost black, bodysuit complete with a utility belt and several zip-up pockets on the chest and legs. The shoes were black boots with steel-tipped toes to aid combat and specially designed soles in order to ensure they gave the best possible grip. The boots had no laces to avoid the risk of a prodigy tripping and were custom-made to fit around the prodigy's foot perfectly. And, to top it all off, the entire ensemble was made from Dyneema, so it was bulletproof (Cinder had thanked the skies endlessly for this fact. The Rampions on TV were getting shot at all the time!).

The uniforms could also be adjusted according to the prodigy's abilities and (to Cinder's surprise) preferences. While those adjustments included gloves, the designers for Cinder's uniform had adamantly refused to give her any on the basis that they would hinder her prodigy abilities, no matter how many times Cinder told them her metal hand really couldn't do anything her normal one could. Gloves had become Cinder's armour for the past five years. Without them, she felt naked, vulnerable. And it didn't help that she was currently on her first mission.

She and the rest of her team were on the roof of a hospital where the Rampions had reason to believe a theft was about to happen. How they knew it was about to happen and why anyone would steal from a hospital, Cinder could only guess.

"Okay guys," Kai whispered to them, "you all know the mission: prevent a hospital theft that is estimated to happen at around this time. However, there is one more piece of intel I want to give you. The thieves may well be prodigies, and Lunars at that."

Cinder's brow furrowed. "How did the Rampions know all that? Especially that bit about Lunars? I thought they were supposed to be really good at keeping secrets."

Kai smiled at her and red text across her retinal display warned Cinder of a sudden increase of body temperature and heart-rate. She tried not to scowl at it. She didn't need to know that her heart was fluttering or that she would be blushing right now if not for her programming. Ugh, being a cyborg could be so annoying!

"You can stop referring to the Rampions in the third person you know. You're one of us now, remember?"

Cinder raised an eyebrow. "You do realise you just did the exact same thing right?"

Kai's ears turned red and his smile turned sheepish. It felt strange to be seeing him like this, after all those news broadcasts and newspaper articles and celebrity blogs featuring him looking serious or charming or confident. It almost seemed like Cinder was witnessing something personal and secret, like a diary. The thought was enough to tear her gaze away. More warning text.

Kai cleared his throat, sounding awkward. This was new as well.

"The Council didn't disclose exactly how they came across this information, just that it came from a reliable source." He frowned thoughtfully and glanced down at his feet. "Though you do have a point Cinder. It's possible the Lunars leaked this information on purpose to lure us into a trap. I'll mention it to the Council. For now, all of you just be on your guard."

The team nodded in understanding.

"Okay, so here's the plan." Kai's voice had turned serious and urgent, much more on par with the Kai Cinder had seen on television. She couldn't help but feel a little disappointed at the sudden familiarity.

"According to the Council's information, assuming it's reliable, the thieves will be stealing various medicines from lab 3H. Cinder, your job will be to alter the lock on the door so that it will be permanently locked. Can you do that?"

"I should be able to." Cinder gestured to her utility belt, which she'd filled with pretty much every tool in her possession. She'd also stocked some of her pockets with smaller items such as screws and bolts and kept some larger items like her wrench and hammer in the compartment inside her metal calf, though she didn't mention those. "Locking the door should leave them with only one exit that will take them to the adjacent lab, right?"

Kai blinked at her. "How did you know that?"

"I downloaded a blueprint of the hospital."

"You couldn't have done that_ before_ I spent ages studying a paper blueprint for this?" He whined, though he was grinning even as he spoke. He looked almost… impressed. The thought made Cinder's heart palpitate.

"Anyway, back to the plan. As Cinder said, the only way out of lab 3H is a window into the adjacent lab, 3I. Iko, you will be stationed there due to your defensive capabilities where you will use your tranquilizer gun to subdue the thieves."

Iko smirked and pulled out the gun in question with a flourish. "They'll be down before they can blink."

Kai turned to Cinder. "Cinder, just in case they get past Iko, do you have your tranquilizer gun as well?"

Cinder nodded and gestured to the one item attacked to her belt that wasn't a mechanic's tool. She tried not to gulp at the prospect of having to shoot anyone, even if it was just to knock them out. Up until a few hours ago, she'd never even held a gun before. She remembered how big and unwieldy it felt in her hand, how disconcerting it was to know that with just a pull of her finger she could send someone off to dreamland. And that was just the tranquiliser.

But Kai didn't know this, and he definitely didn't have to know. What kind of a Rampion was scared to shoot a gun? Certainly not the ones Cinder saw bringing down criminals on TV.

"Good. The rest of us will take positions around all other possible exits out of the hospital, except for Scarlet who'll be keeping a lookout in the air. Everybody good?"

Thorne raised his hand, like he had a question. "Will this thing be broadcast? Just want to be prepared for when the ladies start flocking to the Captain."

Cinder rolled her eyes. She'd only known Thorne for a day, and already she could sum up his entire personality in three words: cocky flirtatious moron.

Kai rubbed his eyes with one hand. "No Thorne, this won't be broadcast. If you want to be on TV, you should've become an actor."

Winter raised her hand next. "I just want to warn all of you that I might very well freeze into an ice statue and shatter to pieces before the thieves reveal themselves and won't be of much assistance."

"It's the middle of summer Crazy." Scarlet remarked with a raised eyebrow.

"In that case I'll melt, since winter always melts away in summer. Thank you for correcting me Scarlet. May I call you Scarlet-friend?" Winter asked with a bright smile.

Scarlet raised an eyebrow at her. "Uh… sure?"

"As much as I'm enjoying all this bonding." drawled Jacin, sounding more bored than anything, "can we kick this thing off now?"

"Yeah, let's take out some bad guys!" added the much-more-enthusiastic Iko.

Cinder suppressed a smile. She still wasn't sure how this whole Rampion thing was going to work out, but she couldn't deny that she liked her team. Thorne was an idiot, but a friendly idiot, the kind of friend you keep around just for laughs. Scarlet was also nice, if a bit outspoken at times, but Cinder was hardly one to talk. After all, just how many times had she insulted people to their faces? Winter was probably the sweetest, gentlest person Cinder had ever met, and the last person she would expect to fight anyone, even if they were villains. But she often said strange, nonsensical things, and Cinder couldn't help but wonder if Winter was a little… well… mad. Not that she'd ever say so out-loud, especially in front of Jacin who seemed to be loyal to a fault whenever Winter was concerned, and as protective of her as a mother bear. Cinder couldn't help but muse on what a fitting name he chose for himself: Guard. She wasn't entirely sure what she thought of Jacin. He was sharp-tongued and had a grumpy disposition, but he did have an interesting sense of humour. As for Iko, well. Cinder had known her since she was eleven and was her best friend for every single one of those years. Of course she was happy to be on a team with Iko. Bubbly, dramatic (and annoyingly fashion obsessed) Iko. And Kai? Cinder had not the foggiest idea, except that she definitely didn't dislike him. Not by a long shot. Then again, being around him did a whole lot of weird things to her heartrate and blood pressure and a bajillion other things that she really wished her cyborg-programming didn't warn her about all the time. What she did know was that she liked being around him, and that she liked seeing him smile. Great skies, she liked his smile.

Cinder read the label written in bold above the hospital doors: 3H. This was it.

Cinder crouched down so that she was eye level with the lock on the doors and examined it. Just a standard lock by the look of it, nothing special. Cinder started searching through her tool belt for the tiniest screwdriver she could find, hoping she had one that could undo the screws for the lock-face so she could get to its inner workings. Sweet rot, why didn't they just bring a padlock? This would have been so much easier! She'd have to mention it to Kai after this mission.

Finally finding a screwdriver that fit the bill, she inserted the thin point into the grooves of the screw-head and turned, praying to the skies that it wouldn't squeak. She didn't want to let the thieves know what she was doing.

Once the lock-face was off, Cinder downloaded a blueprint of the lock, superimposing over the foreign mess of cogs a neatly labelled and orderly image that told Cinder exactly what she needed to do. She bounced the screwdriver along her knuckles confidently and set to work.

Cinder attached the final screw for the lock face and exhaled sharply. Her part was done.

She tapped the screen of her Rampion communicator band, switching it on. "Send comm to the Diplomat: My locksmithing's done. All up to the Android now. End"

The band beeped as it processed her request. There came another beep seconds later, along with bold text marching along the screen.

GOOD WORK MECHANIC. KEEP YOUR GUN AT THE READY JUST IN CASE. P.S YOU MIGHT WANT TO CONSIDER CHANGING YOUR ALIAS TO PERSON WHO IS GOOD AT EVERTHING.

SENT FROM THE DIPLOMAT 15 SECONDS AGO

Cinder smiled at the postscript. She knew that, if not for her cyborg programming, she'd be thanking the skies no one was around to see her blush. Especially not Iko. Cinder would never hear the end of it.

Tugging the tranquiliser gun out of her tool belt, Cinder made her way to the door of lab 3I in what she hoped was a silent manner. She positioned herself just outside the door and fit her finger over the trigger, gripping the gun handle tightly in both hands. Her heart pounded in her ears as she stared at the door and she gulped. If it wasn't Iko who came out of that door, Cinder had no idea what she would do. She'd never used a gun before. Hopefully it wasn't too different from using a drill. Yeah, and her metal parts were made of platinum.

Cinder's mouth went dry at the muffled sound of smashing glass from inside the lab. She adjusted her audio interface, allowing her to hear the previously soundless thumps and crashes of battle. Great skies, please don't let it be Iko being thrown and smashed around.

The door flew open with a bang. Cinder retreated a few steps, hoping her footsteps weren't as loud as her ears were telling her. That's the problem with adjustable hearing: You never know if the volume is accurate.

A willowy man stepped through the doorway, followed closely by a stocky young man carrying a large case. Cinder's facial recognition scanner didn't recognise him, but the willowy man… Cinder almost wished it didn't. He was one of the Lunar's at the parade, the one with the dark eyes. The Council had been right. The Lunars were behind this.

The young man with the case sniffed the air, like he was checking for something. His head snapped towards Cinder and she froze. Did he just… smell her? She wasn't even wearing perfume! And it's not like metal limbs have a scent.

He grinned, revealing dimples in his cheeks. He would've looked charming, if it weren't for the sharp fangs also on display.

"Master," He said, not tearing his eyes of Cinder, "we've got another little hero."

The other Lunar turned. "Ah yes, the robot girl. A pleasure to make your acquaintance. You may call me Animal King."

Animal King bowed low and Cinder's eyes narrowed. Was he mocking her?

"I hope you don't mind us passing through. We merely had to pick up a few things is all. I do hope you'll prove to be more open to negotiations than your metal friend back there."

Cinder fought the urge to glance at the open door. Did these guys hurt Iko?

She glared at Animal King, desperately hoping to see Iko's shiny metal fist come swinging out of nowhere and clonk him on his dark-haired head. But it didn't come.

The thought of Iko lying in that lab, severely injured (or maybe even worse) because of this pair of smug moon-people was enough to finally unfreeze Cinder's limbs. Raising her gun, she pointed the barrel at Animal King and pulled the trigger.

He didn't even flinch as the dart sailed right past his ear.

Animal King shook his head and tutted in mock disappointment. "Ah, today's youth: so headstrong and stubborn. Omega?"

His partner scowled at the name, though his expression immediately turned bright and eager with the next order.

"Take her out."

Omega set down the case and charged for Cinder, growling savagely. Cinder squeezed the trigger of her gun, ready to shoot again, but Omega just swatted it out of her hand. He dove toward her neck, fangs bared. On instinct, Cinder raised a hand to defend herself, only realising when his jaws closed around it that it was her metal one. Well, at least that means she can't feel it.

Seemingly oblivious to the fact that her hand wasn't flesh, Omega tore into it with his teeth, finding the small gaps where her joints were and ripping them apart. Warnings flashed across Cinder's vision as his fangs ripped off fingers and tore at wires. Sparks flashed in his face, but he didn't stop. His eyes had become unfocused and wild, his only goal at that moment to utterly ruin Cinder's hand. She tried to wrench it away from his destructive jaws, to kick him off her, but Omega was relentless.

Finally, Animal King clapped his hands and Omega released Cinder's hand, which now resembled just a shapeless hunk of metal with random wires hanging out of it. Great, now she's lost her left hand twice.

"A pleasure to meet you my lady." Animal King said as Omega retrieved the case. "I'd kiss you hand but…" He chuckled. Cinder glared at him. Great skies, what a jerk.

The Lunars ran down the hall, pushing Cinder aside as they passed. She cursed under her breath as she struggled back to her feet. She clumsily tapped her communicator band with her metal stub. "Send comm to the Diplomat: These guys are Lunars, and they've utterly ruined my hand and have taken out Ik-the Android. I-I don't know how bad she is. I'm going to check on her now. End."

Cinder rushed toward the door of lab 3I. _Come on Iko, you have to be okay. You have to be._

Cinder charged into the room and glanced around frantically, looking for the gleam of metal skin or a familiar head of blue braids. With every second that passed, her heart seemed to sink further. When she finally caught sight of Iko's slumped form in the corner of the lab, Cinder felt a headache build behind her eyes, a reaction that always happened whenever her body would try to cry.

She ran over to Iko, her breath coming in short, fearful gasps. Practically falling over in her haste to kneel down by her friend's side, Cinder pressed her fingers on the inside of Iko's wrist. The steady thrum of a heartbeat greeted her.

Cinder's relieved laughter was borderline hysterical. Iko was alive. Unconscious and injured but alive. That's all that mattered.

It might have been all the successful Rampion missions she'd seen on TV over the years, or maybe just left over euphoria that Iko wasn't dead, but Cinder honestly expected to see Animal King and Omega with cuffs on their wrists and her teammates standing over them when she stepped out of the hospital. The reality was a little different.

Scarlet was on the ground, pulling feathers of every shape and size out of her red curls, looking downright murderous. Kai was covered in scratches, as was Thorne, but Thorne also had a poodle gnawing on his leg. Winter looked fine, happy even, as she stroked a feral cat with Jacin scowling at it behind her like he suspected it would attack at any moment. He also seemed uninjured.

"What happened out here?" Cinder asked incredulously.

"That Lunar with the black eyes called pretty much every animal in the city on us." Thorne growled, finally prying the poodle of his leg. "I sure hope you Rampions have medicine for rabies."

"Is Iko alright?" Kai asked. His copper eyes were wide with worry and fear as he studied Iko's unconscious form slung over Cinder's shoulder.

"Still alive." Cinder assured him, "But she'll probably be super mad when she wakes up."

"She's not the only one." Scarlet gave the last feather in her hair a vicious tug, tearing out a few red strands with it. "I just got knocked out of the sky by pigeons! Freaking pigeons!"

"Hey, at least they weren't chickens right?" Kai ventured with a weak smile.

Scarlet glared at him.

Cinder looked up at the sky. She could just make out the faint outline of the moon. She glared at it murderously. So the Lunars wanted to play rough, huh? Fine. Cinder could play rough too.

**A/N: Cinder's first Rampion mission, and we learned about two of the Lunars! Most importantly, we got some insight on how Cinder feels about Kai! **

**So Cinder's metal hand is pretty much ruined. Way to go Omega! Also, Cinder really needs to learn how to use a gun. Maybe both problems can be fixed at once… or I could be messing with you ;)**

**Why did the Lunars need that hospital stuff? Where did the Council get their info from? Do you guys know who Animal King and Omega are? Let me know in the reviews!**

**P.S: I any of you are wondering what Dyneema is, it's basically the world's strongest fabric.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Cress**

Cress was exhausted. Her eyes were drooping, her fingers ached, and her hair probably resembled a dead golden buzzard, but she didn't care. She was almost done. Just a few more lines of code, and she was finished. Only three more lines of code. Two more lines. One more line…

Cress breathed a sigh of relief and slumped back in her chair, admiring her handiwork. She'd still have to go over the code later. Undoubtedly she made some small mistake with the set frequency, or got her numbers the tiniest bit mixed up, but for now, she was content to just bask in he accomplishment.

Cress looked at the chip plugged into her computer, feeling like a proud mother. Through years of hard work, this chip had been born, the key to her freedom. Now if she could just figure out a way to get it out of her prison…

A beep from the door shattered Cress's triumph, replacing it with abject terror. She'd been so focused on her programme she hadn't put a backup window in place. There was no way she'd be able to pull up a new window before Sybil came in!

Clumsily shooting to her feet, Cress placed herself in front of the screen, hiding the codes from view. It was not a perfect solution. Cress wasn't even sure if it was an adequate one. But it was the best she could manage.

The door slid open and Sybil strode in. Cress could immediately tell that this was not a good time to be caught engineering her own escape. Sybil's eyes were dark with fury and her beautiful features were twisted into a scowl.

"Good day mistress," Cress said with a forced grin, "was the hospital job a success?"  
"Animal King got the medicines if that's what you mean." Sybil's grumbled, "But the Rampions knew about the theft."

"How can that be mistress?"

"How do you think 1-0?" Sybil snapped back at her, "We obviously have a leak!"

It took every ounce of Cress's willpower to keep her face a regular colour. "Do we have any idea of who the leak could be mistress?"

"Unfortunately no. Questioning starts tomorrow. We're beginning with the new recruits. Meanwhile, you will be searching for any evidence that the information was sent to the Rampions digitally. If you find the message itself, trace the signal. It might've come from a personal device."

Cress nodded. It was all she could manage. Her voice was stuck in her throat. She knew for a fact that she wouldn't be able to find the message, nor would any other hacker for that matter. She'd specifically designed the message's makeup to rework itself into an unassuming weapons report once it had been read. If living with the Lunars had taught her anything, it was that you could never be too careful. But she wasn't sure if she'd be able to handle it when it came to be her turn for "interrogation".

"Is that all Mistress?" Cress asked, proud of herself for her steady voice.

"Yes 1-0, that is all for today."

Cress swallowed her sigh of relief and dipped into a curtsy. If that was all, then that meant Sybil would be leaving soon. Thank the skies!

"What are all those codes behind you 1-0?"

Oh no. No, no, no!

"Th-they're for a new programme I'm designing Mistress." Cress stammered. Great skies, why did she have to be so bad at lying?

Sybil brushed past Cress and studied the computer, taking in the numbers on the monitor and the chip plugged into the device.

"And what does this programme do exactly?" Sybil's voice was sharp as she spoke to Cress, but then again, her voice was always sharp.

Cress tried to stay calm as she searched for a believable lie. "I-i-it all centres around that chip you see. The programme establishes a, um, direct link to my databases. Once it's plugged into a-another device, it should allow me to bypass firewalls and passwords and, err, other anti-hacker software, giving me complete remote access."

Sybil raised an eyebrow at Cress, though it looked more interested than condescending (she hoped). "Really?"

Cress nodded, biting her lip. Had Sybil bought the lie?

"How long until this chip will be ready?"

"I-I just have to carry out a few final checks Mistress and then it will be ready."

"Very well. I want it to be finished by my next visit. I will alert you when the chip has been dispatched to another device. I assume you included an alert of some sort to tell you when a connection has been made?"

Cress's eyes widened. Was this… actually happening? "Y-yes Mistress."

Sybil nodded sharply. "Very well 1-0, that will be all." And with that, she turned on her heel, punched in the access code to the door and strode out the room.

Cress waited for at least a minute before releasing the delighted squeal trapped in her throat.

Yes! Yes, yes, yes! Soon, she would finally be out of here! And maybe, just maybe, she'd finally get to meet Carswell Thorne…

**A/N: This is a pretty short chapter, but I just thought we needed to hear something from Cress. She hasn't been given nearly enough spotlight.**

**On a scale of 1-10, how annoyed with me are you that I'm still keeping Cress's superpower hidden? For all you curious people, rest assured! Cress's power will be revealed in the next few chapters! Just stay tuned!**

**How does Cress plan on using her chip for escape? Did Sybil really fall for Cress's trick? And when will this story finally have some Cresswell? **

**Please Review! **


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Scarlet**

"Kai, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure, just as soon as Cinder's, err, fixed."

Scarlet rolled her eyes at her leader. "That's probably going to take _hours_ Kai. I just have to talk to you for a few moments!"

"I want to make sure every member of the team is alright."

_And by "every member of the team", he means his crush._

Scarlet sighed and turned away, giving up. She didn't know why she thought that Kai would stop with his worrying about Cinder for long enough to hear what she had to say. The guy obviously liked her, and he probably felt responsible for her since he's her team leader and all. Still, it was really annoying!

Iko came up behind Kai and threw a comforting arm around his shoulders. "Don't worry Kai! These guys really seem to know what they're doing! Cinder will be just fine."

"They said they were going to have to build her a whole new hand…" Kai mumbled.

"A titanium hand complete with a bunch of handy tools such as a stiletto knife, a flashlight, a screwdriver, a universal connector cable and even a gun!" Thorne called out from where he was sitting across the room. "I'd say that's a huge improvement over her old hand!"

"Isn't she also getting a new titanium foot?" Jacin asked.

Iko nodded, beaming. "Yep! That's especially good! Cinder's old foot was too small anyway."

Winter clapped her hands in delight. "Oh, this is wonderful! Now Cinder's limbs will shine and no-one shall regard her with disgust."

"That's one way of looking at it I guess." Scarlet shrugged.

"Hey, I thought she looked good even without the titanium, but I'm not arguing!" Thorne grinned, earning a sharp glare from Kai.

Scarlet bit back an amused chuckle. Kai didn't think Thorne was serious, did he? The guy flirts with literally everyone! The fact that he thought Cinder was pretty held about as much weight as a cloud.

"Well," Scarlet began as she started on her way to the dorms, "I think I'll start heading home. There's something I want to check out."

"Bye Scarlet-friend!" Winter's tinkling voice called after her.

It felt good to be wearing her hoodie again. When Scarlet was in uniform, she attracted superhero fans like a lamp attracted moths. But in her hoodie, she was just another normal person. No-one had to know that she was Red Comet. She could just take the rest of the day off being a superhero, and normally, that's exactly what she'd do. But not today. Today, she had some work to do.

To avoid suspicion, Scarlet first paid a visit to the hotel she was staying at and left her communicator band behind there. She wasn't an idiot, she remembered that rushing off into situations on her own without approval was one of the things that had gotten her fired from the Rampions last time. And in her defence, she had tried to talk to Kai about it. It wasn't her fault he was too busy fussing over Cinder to notice. Still, she wasn't taking chances. She didn't want to get fired again.

Once her communicator band was safely deposited in her hotel room, Scarlet left the building and started walking in a random direction, hoping it would take her away from the prosperous, happy part of New Beijing. She really should've done some research before-hand but planning things has never been Scarlet's strong suit.

Night had fallen by the time the suburbs and bright businesses finally faded into ramshackle houses and shops with dark windows. Graffiti scrawled across the outer walls of the buildings. Rats skittered into and out of gutters. Glaring people watched Scarlet's every move. Refusing to cower beneath their distrustful gaze, Scarlet glared back.

She scanned the storefronts and filthy business logos, hoping to get a hint for what she was looking for.

Eventually, her eyes landed on a business that wasn't dark and quiet. Bright neon lights glowed out from the windows and loud raucous music and cheers and yells boomed through its walls. Judging from the logo, this place was a fight club.

Scarlet shrugged to herself. It's as good a place to start as any.

She slipped through the front door, tugging her red hood over her head. She knew it probably wouldn't do anything. In a building seemingly full to bursting with people covered in piercings and tattoos and hair dyed obnoxious colours, she stood out like a lump of coal in a diamond shop.

The looks she attracted ranged from suspicious and distrustful to disgustingly lustful as people eyed her figure. Scarlet met each and every look with a snarl of her own, regardless of what the look was.

She edged her way to a more or less secluded corner of the club and stood there, arms folded over her chest, chin jutting out in challenge, as she watched the fighters on the makeshift stage.

The fight looked to be almost over. The loser was stumbling around the ring, blood streaming from his nose and fresh bruises welling up all over his face. His opponent, though not unscathed, carried himself with far more composure, regarding the losing fighter with cold patience, like a predator waiting for its prey to die. The losing fighter lunged clumsily at the winning fighter, but the winning fighter merely stepped to the side, sticking out a foot for the other fighter to trip over. In his exhaustion-induced haste, the losing fighter stumbled and fell. The winner planted his foot on the loser's spine, and the enthusiastic crowd counted down from ten. By the time they reached zero, the loser had given up on rising to his feet.

A deafening cheer rose up from the people surrounding the stadium. Scarlet narrowed her eyes at the winner, waiting for a smug smile, a puffed chest, a raised chin, anything to indicate his satisfaction at his victory. But his expression stayed cold as stone.

He held out an expectant hand to the mediator who handed him a thick wad of cash. The winner wasted no time in pocketing the notes of green paper and vaulted over the ropes of the stage. The nearest people clamoured around him, trying to congratulate him on his victory, but he kept his head ducked and his shoulders hunched, staring at his feet as he steadily made his way across the floor and out of the fight club.

Scarlet scowled at him as he went. That coldness, that patience, it was completely at odds to the last time she'd seen him fight. There was no savage glow in his eyes. His teeth were clean of blood.

But that didn't matter. What mattered was she'd finally found Wolf. Now she just had to follow him.

Scarlet had been proud of her skill with following Wolf. She'd hovered a few inches off the ground to avoid any risk of her footsteps being heard, and she kept to the shadows. Which made her annoyance all the greater when he stopped and sighed. "Scarlet I know you're there. You can stop following me now."

Scowling, she dropped to the ground with a dull thump. Wolf turned to face her. He looked tired, almost sad. Not that Scarlet was going to be offering him any sympathy.

"How did you know I was following you?"

Wolf shrugged. "I saw you at the club. I also smelled you."

Scarlet gritted her teeth against a curse. Dammit, she'd forgotten he had enhanced senses.

"So are you going to arrest me now?" He asked in a resigned voice.

"Technically, I should because you're unstable and nearly killed a person."

"And the public hates me."

"That too, but I'm just here to ask you a few questions."

Wolf cocked his head to one side. Maybe it was what he said about being part-wolf, but Scarlet couldn't help but notice what a doglike gesture it was.

"During a mission today, there was a hospital robbery."

"I wasn't one of the robbers in case that's what you're going to ask." Wolf interrupted.

Scarlet rolled her eyes. "I know that, I was there! Anyway, the theft was performed by two prodigies. One of them had powers a lot like yours."

Wolf frowned at her, like she was speaking a foreign language. Scarlet suppressed another eye-roll.

"Like… mine?"

"Sharp fangs, enhanced senses, has a brutal fighting style, yep. Like yours." Scarlet narrowed her eyes at the man standing across from her. "It seemed to much of a coincidence that there would be two people with wolf-like abilities."

"Maybe."

Scarlet stared at Wolf expectantly. He met her gaze unflinchingly, his green eyes glowing like emerald chips in the dark shadows of the night.

Eventually, Scarlet ran out of patience. "Look, just tell me how you got your abilities, okay? I'm guessing you weren't born with them!"

"What makes you say that?"

"You were pretty stubborn about the whole wolf DNA thing at the trials. You don't have to be a scientist to know you can't get that as a simple genetic mutation."

Wolf narrowed his eyes. "What's your point?"  
Scarlet growled in frustration. Why was he being so stubborn? "My point is someone modified your DNA didn't they? And I'm willing to bet you weren't the only one!"  
"If you've already figured it out, why are you asking me about it?"

Scarlet glared at him. _Shut up already!_ "Was it the Lunars?"

Wolf blinked at her, all innocence. "Was what the Lunars?"

"If you play dumb one more time, I will knock your pointed teeth out!"

He flinched. "Please don't mention the teeth."

Scarlet suddenly remembered the self-loathing in his eyes when he came back to himself at the time. The defeated manner in which he talked about his own half-brutal mind. Despite herself, she felt a twinge of pity for the ferocious man standing before her. She didn't know if he'd voluntarily become a prodigy, or if he was forced into it. Either way, he clearly didn't like it.

Scarlet shoved down her pity. This wasn't some poor lost puppy, this was a psychopath who'd almost killed a Rampion twice Scarlet's size! And he had information. Information Scarlet needed.

"Did the Lunars turn you into a prodigy?" Scarlet forced herself to speak slowly. She also tried to speak calmly, but she was pretty sure she failed in that department.

"What makes you think it was the Lunars?"

"The thieves from the robbery today were both Lunars. Come on, it's a yes or no question! Just answer it already!"

Wolf stared at her for a long time. She could practically see him debating his answer in his head.

"Yes or no?" She prompted impatiently.

Wolf's gaze dropped to the ground briefly, before coming up to meet her eyes again. His face was hard and determined as he finally replied. "Yes."

**A/N: Hey guys, Wolf's back! I mean, come on I had to bring him back sometime! He couldn't have stayed just an object of concern for the Rampions forever!**

**Also, Cinder's getting a new hand and foot! Sound familiar? ;)**

**Now Scarlet knows something new about the Lunars. How will this affect the Rampions? Will they come up with a counterattack for this new threat?**

**Please Review!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Kai**

Cinder held her metal hand out in front of her, flexing the fingers and clenching and unclenching them into fists. Kai wasn't sure if that was just to show the team what her new hand was like or if she was still getting used to the limb and was just trying to experiment. He'd ask, but he was worried if the question would be too personal.

"Your hand shines like the moon." Winter murmured. Her lovely eyes were wide with wonder as she studied the metal fingers.

Thorne cocked his head to one side. "I'd say it shines more like light hitting metal."

Jacin raised an eyebrow. "It is light hitting metal."

"That's why then."

"It's got some tools in it right?" Kai asked, "Wasn't one of them a gun?"

Cinder extended her pointer finger and the tip came off, revealing it to be hollow. A gun barrel.

"The ammunition is stored in my palm." She explained.

Kai smiled widely. "Awesome! Now you don't have to worry about being disarmed! Well, unless you're facing some seriously extreme criminals."

Cinder frowned down at her finger, still in gun form. "I wouldn't call it "awesome". I'm now literally built to kill."

"Only one small part of you. And you can just load the gun with tranquilizers."

But Cinder's expression of discomfort didn't shift as she stared at her pointer finger.

A hand clamped down on Kai's shoulder, making him jump.

"Here's a tip Casanova," Thorne's voice whispered in Kai's ear. "When flirting with a girl, don't compliment stuff she doesn't like."

Kai shot him his fiercest glare but couldn't do anything about the heat spreading across his cheeks.

Scarlet smirked at him. "Well, now that Cinder's got her new hand, you free for a chat?"

Kai suppressed the urge to slap himself. Right, Scarlet had wanted to talk to him about something! He'd just been worried about Cinder at the time and surely whatever she had to say could wait… ah, who was he kidding? He was a terrible leader!

"Right, sure. Sorry for making you wait." He mumbled sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it! I've just got a theory about the Lunars I wanted to tell you."

"What is it?"

"I think they're creating prodigies."

The group was silent as this information sank in.

Jacin was the one to break the silence. "What makes you say that?"

"You remember the Lunars Cinder told us about? Well, I just realised that one of them-I think his name was Omega-had similar powers to that guy from trials, Wolf. And you remember how adamant he was about his DNA being part wolf…"

Kai gritted his teeth against a curse. Of course! Why didn't he notice the connection sooner? It wasn't unheard of for prodigies to have the same powers, but for one of them to claim an impossible feature of his DNA? And for one of them to be Lunar…

This explained so much! How the Lunars could have a prodigy army, how they could be so confident that they could win against the Rampions. They weren't just recruiting unregistered prodigies; they were making their own.

Kai thought about Wolf. Remembered the fight against Hunter, the instincts running through his head, driving him to kill the other prodigy. Remembered the sick grin on his face and the red blood staining his pointed teeth.

Kai imagined facing a whole army of ferocious prodigies like that and shuddered. They wouldn't stand a chance.

"I'd better discuss this with the Council." He said, "Hopefully that will give them enough time to start working on a solution to this problem."

"If there's a solution." Jacin muttered darkly.

Kai tried (and probably failed) for an upbeat smile. "Of course there's a solution! Why wouldn't there be?"

Jacin raised an eyebrow.

Winter, seemingly oblivious to the dire implications of Scarlet's news, sung softly to herself. "_The moon is full tonight, tonight, and the wolves all howl aaaaooooooo…_"

Cinder shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably, and Kai suddenly remembered that she'd gotten a new foot as well. "Well on that note, err, no pun intended, I'll be heading to my dorm. I've got to practice working with my hand some more."

"I'll be heading out to. I want to spend some time at the shooting range." Scarlet added.

"And I want to do some training. If we're going to end up facing an army of guys like Wolf…" Jacin trailed off, not needing to finish.

Winter jumped up, smiling brightly. "I'll go with you. I wouldn't want you to feel lonely."

Kai glanced at Thorne. "Mind if I talk to you for a few minutes? There're some things I want to discuss."

Thorne shrugged. "Eh, sure. I've got nowhere I need to be right now."

Kai nodded and watched his other teammates as they went their separate ways. He waited until their footsteps had faded out of hearing before turning to Thorne.

"We're going to need to hasten Wolf's capture. It would be helpful if we could run tests on his DNA and his psychology so we can have a better idea of what we're up against."

Thorne sighed. "Yeah, that's all well and good except I don't have any idea on where to start looking! It's not like the guy left a trail of flashing lights when he ran off! I have, literally, nothing to go on here!"

"I know, but his capture is more important than ever now."

"That doesn't change the fact that you're not giving me any leads!"

Kai bit his lip, trying to think. Thorne was right, he did have nothing to go on. Wolf had pretty much vanished into thin air after the trials. It wasn't like Thorne could just run straight to his location and apprehend him.

"Try looking through the Rampion database for any likely places he could be hiding." Kai eventually suggested. "Some old villain gang headquarters from the Blood Moon Time or something. Somewhere away from the public's eyes."

Thorne nodded, though his expression was doubtful.

Kai heaved a sigh. "Look, just try and find him, okay? I need to report Scarlet's findings to the Council."

Thorne nodded again and marched out the room. Kai waited a few moments before following suit.

Hopefully his dad would have some kind of solution to this latest problem.

**A/N: I KNOW, I'M LATE, I'M SORRY, I'M REALLY BUSY STUDYING RIGHT NOW!**

**Cinder's got her new hand, and Scarlet's delivered her news. Will Thorne be able to track down Wolf? Will the Council have a solution to this newest problem? Will Kai ever learn how to flirt with Cinder? **

**Please review!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Winter**

Winter's steps sounded like thunder to her ears as they tapped on the clean marble floor. Her footsteps, together with the footsteps of her new friends, made it sound as though there was a storm building in the pristine hallway they were walking down. She glanced around, half expecting to see black clouds sparking with white lightning closing in around them. But all she could see were the gleaming white walls and their intricate carvings of prodigies working miracles: bending water around them in dancing, swirling ribbons, curing people of diseases that left them pockmarked with welts and sores with a mere touch, holding entire houses high above their heads. Winter wondered if the walls had bled when the artist carved out these scenes. If so, then they did a very good job of cleaning it up.

"So is there anything we should know about how to behave around the Council?" Cinder asked nervously. "Like, should we bow, or…"

Kai chuckled. "Nah, nothing like that. Just keep it formal and you'll be fine."

Cinder frowned, clearly unconvinced.

"Keep it formal?" Jacin said, "Are you sure we should be bringing Thorne to this?"

"Hey, I can be formal!" Thorne protested.

"Right, sure you can."

"I'm with Guard on this one." Scarlet added.

Thorne huffed.

Winter let a faint smile touch her lips, the first one she'd made since Kai had announced that the Council had summoned them for a meeting. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Winter felt panic and fear shoot of her friends like icicles, stabbing into her soul. Well, except from Jacin. His heart was stone, as always. Winter didn't particularly like feeling what everyone else felt. It was painful and often left her disorientated and confused. But many, many times she'd wished she could sense what Jacin was feeling.

His ability had developed not long after hers. Slowly, his soul had built and impenetrable wall around itself, one that not even Winter could penetrate, which made sense. After all, the wall's sole purpose was to keep her out. She'd been sensing his emotions for a year before the wall was finally complete, and Jacin became stone to Winter. Winter often looked back on that year, trying to remember all the feelings she sensed, trying to find something, anything to tell her… but every time she came up with nothing.

Winter fidgeted absentmindedly as she walked, studying the carvings on the walls, trying to spark some kind of interest in what they depicted. She just wanted to take her mind of her friends' fear, as well as her own.

Levana hadn't been satisfied with Winter's work. She'd been a Rampion for a full week and hadn't reported back any information. Levana had positioned her there to be a spy, not to actually become a Rampion! Thanks to an encryption designed by one of the Lunars' hackers, Levana had been able to express her dissatisfaction with Winter in the form of words marching neatly across a small handheld tablet Winter had been supplied with before she left base. Winter could easily imagine her stepmother's fierce eyes and borderline disgusted frown as she read the words. It felt like Levana had been right there in front of her instead of a tablet, and that the words were hissed out of her striking red lips rather than positioned on the screen. If Winter didn't report any useful information soon, Levana would ensure that someone would suffer for it. Winter knew exactly who she meant by "someone" and had been suffering from nightmares ever since where she stumbled upon his corpse, his blonde hair dyed pink with his own blood and his blue eyes open and staring at nothing.

Winter shuddered at the mere memory of her dreams. She would get Levana her precious information. She wasn't going to let anything happen to him. Not if she could help it.

Winter felt a warm hand press into hers and she glanced down at it in mild surprise. She'd forgotten she wasn't alone. Her gaze flitted up to Jacin's face and saw that his brow was tight with worry. She smiled up at him, attempting to look reassuring. She hadn't told him about Levana's threat. She couldn't risk his safety like that.

The team came to a stop in front of two giant silver double doors. Kai knocked on them politely before pushing them open and walking inside.

The Council Chamber was a large circular room with a domed roof depicting a starry night sky. The floor was decorated with a mosaic of the sky in the daytime, with fluffy clouds and pale rays of sunlight streaking across a blue background. And on the far end of the room on large cushioned chairs sat the Council.

Winter's eyes flitted between each Council member. The Emperor, Crime Minister, President Star, Primal, Crown Jewel and General Thunder. The founders of the Rampions and the Lunar's greatest enemies. And they were sitting there, _right in front of her._

Winter felt a flash of guilt for what she was about to do. She didn't want to betray the Rampions. They had been good to her. They'd made friends with her! But she had no choice. She had to protect Jacin!

"We have called you here to discuss this latest piece of information you have brought to our attention regarding the prodigy organisation known as the Lunars." The Emperor stated formally. "To begin, we would like you to recount the events of the hospital robbery that took place three days ago."

As her friends started to describe the mission, Winter allowed herself to stop listening. She'd heard this story before and had nothing to tell. Besides, she needed to read the Council.

Biting back the urge to take a deep, steadying breath, Winter touched each Council member with her power, one by one.

General Thunder was concerned, and very, very worried. The Lunar's rise to power scared him more than he let on. He was unsure if the Rampions could withstand another war with them.

Crown Jewel was irritated, but not by the Lunars. Winter thought it was more to do with this meeting, or even Scarlet-friend's discovery. Winter felt a similar irritation coming from Levana when she painted her walls or danced in the garden. Maybe Crown Jewel didn't like children?

Primal was more calculating. His emotions didn't shift much throughout the story of the robbery. He might be the most rational of the Council.

President Star was disappointed. His expectations seemed to be pretty high of the Rampion recruits, and he definitely didn't think failure was tolerable. He also seemed to be a little bit embarrassed on their behalf.

Crime Minister was concerned, like General Thunder, but her worries seemed to be directed at the recruits themselves. She seemed to care very much about the well-being of her fellow superheros.

Finally, there was the Emperor, probably the most worried of all the Council. But his worry wasn't about the Lunars, or even Scarlet-friend's discovery. It was too focused and directed to be about any of those broad terms, but Winter couldn't even begin to guess at its actual target until the story got to the part where Animal King (or Jael as Winter knew him) attacked Kai, Scarlet and Thorne with an army of animals. Winter inhaled sharply as the Emperor's concern suddenly skyrocketed, especially when Kai attempted to joke about being attacked by poodles.

Of course. Kai is the Emperor's son, isn't he? It's only natural that the Emperor would worry about him. Winter felt a pang of guilt as she realised she'd have to report this to Levana.

"Thank you for that recount." Crown Jewel's sharp voice brought Winter back into the present, pulling her out of the hearts of the Councilmembers. She was honestly a bit relieved. "Now would Red Comet please explain how she made the connections to her recent discovery regarding the Lunars' army?"

Scarlet shrugged. "Just a bunch of coincidences really. I realised that Omega and Wolf had similar powers and just remembered how adamant he was about his DNA being part Wolf." Her eyes flicked to President Star, probably remembering how he'd kept denying Wolf's claims. Though his expression remained perfectly blank, Winter could feel the small ripples of his irritation.

Winter pitied Wolf. His nervousness had been utterly profound at the trials, as well as a strong conviction that he didn't belong there and an overpowering urge to run away. Winter had also been interested to note that he felt something akin to admiration, though she couldn't pinpoint exactly what, or who, had been the target. She had felt the innate commands of his instincts during his fight with Hunter as though they were her own, screaming at her to fight, to win, to kill. She'd had to practically crush Jacin's hand in hers to keep herself seated at her team table. But most of all, she'd felt his horror after he'd snapped out of it, horror at himself and at what he was.

She didn't believe Wolf was evil, dangerous and out of control maybe, but not evil.

"…genetic tampering." Scarlet was saying. Winter gave herself a little shake and tried to look like she'd been listening to her every word. The Councilmembers were all wearing almost matching looks of concern and feeling it on an almost equal level. Which happened to be very, very high.

Mixed in with the concern was fear, horror and even disgust (that one was mainly Crown Jewel), presumably at the thought of facing an army of wolf-soldiers, each one savage fighters and brutal killers.

Winter clutched her stomach as a seed of nausea settled inside it. She waited for the feeling to pass, but it only grew stronger, showing bile up her throat and churning her insides. She started to cough sporadically. And then her knees buckled and she retched, hacking up bile and spit all over the Council's nice clean floor.

Jacin was by her side in an instant, pressing his hand against her back and murmuring to her softly, though she couldn't make out the words. When it became clear that the vomiting wasn't going to end any time soon, Jacin wrapped one arm around her shaking shoulders and led her to the door, not bothering to excuse them before opening it and stepping into the hallway.

A few more steps and Winter finally stopped retching, rejoicing in the quietness of the emotionless walls, roof and floor and the unreadable Jacin. She was faintly aware that she had vomit on her chin. Jacin wiped it away for her with his sleeve.

"Are you alright?" Jacin's voice was soft and laced with concern. Winter imagined it like a blanket, wrapping it around herself so that she was cosy and warm.

"Do you know where they keep the cleaning supplies here?" She asked him shakily, "I'd hate to condemn some poor servant to have to clean up my sick."

Jacin rolled his eyes, but he was grinning as her replied. "I'm sure they'd be more than happy to lend you a mop."

Winter smiled back at him. Oh, she loved his smile.

**A/N: And we finally see Winter's empathy in action! Well, from her point of view at least.**

**Also, Animal King's secret identity is revealed! Presenting the lord of the animal kingdom, Jael!**

**Levana's not happy with Winter's spy work, and now she's threatening Jacin!** **How will Winter deal with being the guard instead of the princess for a change?**

**The Council's heard the full story. What are they going to do about it? Will Wolf be able to stay in hiding? **

**Please Review!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Wolf**

Wolf kept his head ducked as he walked, trying to become more inconspicuous. And probably failing. But none of the civilians were running away from him screaming in terror so maybe it was working.

Wolf didn't like being in the main city, with its giant skyscrapers and huge herds of people wandering around aimlessly. It made him feel trapped, exposed. But he couldn't stay in the shady side of town. Not after Scarlet had found him there so easily. The Rampions clearly thought he was a threat and wanted to put him in custody, and after the spectacle he'd created at trials, he didn't blame them. He was dangerous, maybe even unstable. He'd know this ever since he'd woken up on that operating table with needles in his arms and discovered his pointed teeth. But he couldn't risk catching a boat or plane or even hiring a car and leaving New Beijing. The trials had been broadcast on live TV, and it seemed to him that at least half the city came to watch. Plus, from what Wolf had seen on café and restaurant televisions, the Rampions had been sending out a warning about him to the public, complete with a picture of him at the trials. If he tried to use public transport to leave the city, he'd definitely be recognised and turned over to the Rampions immediately. He supposed he could just run. Buy a food supply, enough to last him a day or two, and just run out of the city on foot. It wouldn't be the first time. Except, a part of him didn't want to.

The Lunars had ruined his life, tearing him away from his home and turning him into… _this._ The logical thing to do would be to try to forget about them, to avoid them at all costs and, for a while, that's exactly what Wolf did. But he couldn't forget. He couldn't ignore the hatred and rage that boiled inside of him at the mere mention of them. He wanted them destroyed, and he wanted to have a part in destroying them. And right now, the only way he could do that was by staying here, in New Beijing, undermining them in whatever ways he could, like when he told Scarlet that they were the ones who turned him into a prodigy in the first place.

Also, as silly as it was, he sort of wanted to see Scarlet again. He'd barely known her for a week, and only had an hour's worth of conversation with her at best. Still…

The sudden deafening roar of a car in full speed bombarded Wolf's sensitive ears as it turned a corner in the road next to him, the screeching of its tires like nails on a chalkboard. A sleek dark-blue car followed in hot pursuit, the Rampion logo printed on its doors.

Wolf took a step back at the sight, though he knew the superheros in the vehicle were much more focused on their quarry than just some random tall guy on the side of the road.

Civilians started crowding to the edge of the road, trying to get a better look at the intense car chase. Some had their phones out to film the dangerous race, others were cheering on the Rampions as they sped out of view.

The sudden concentration of people around him made Wolf uneasy. Quietly, he slipped through the already dense crowd and started making his way away from the area. He took a random turn in the space between two buildings, aiming for the much emptier square on the other side of the passage when he heard a small noise from above.

Wolf looked up instinctively to see a couple of people on the roof of the smaller building to his left, their faces pointed towards the road he'd just left. From his vantage point, they looked quite young, maybe in their late teens? They're probably just looking for a better view of the car chase. At least, that's what Wolf thought until they abruptly turned away from the chase and disappeared down the back wall of the building.

Curiosity piqued, Wolf jogged to the end of the passage just in time to see them slowly and carefully making their way down with the help of a rope. Now that they were closer, he could see bulging duffel bags slung over their shoulders.

Wolf narrowed his eyes. Now he was suspicious.

The people reached the ground and glanced around themselves, as though checking to see if anyone was watching. Wolf shrank back into the shadows a little, though he knew that probably wouldn't do much to hide his large frame.

If Wolf had to guess, these kids were amateurs or just plain careless, because after barely a minute of looking around they smiled at each other in satisfaction and started sprinting down the road. Wolf smiled to himself. Those kids were fast, but a wolf is faster. And quieter.

By the time the kids stopped, they were panting heavily. Wolf took this as a good sign. Because a couple of suspicious teens sneaking around Rampion headquarters? That was bad news. He wouldn't be surprised if he ended up in a fight.

One of them, a girl with hair dyed in black and white zebra stripes, fumbled around in her bag, finally bringing out a grappling gun. And not a half-bad grappling gun either. The metal of the hook looked like titanium, and Wolf could make out the shine of a screen on the back. But how would some gangster teenager get their hands on a high-quality piece of tech like that?

The girl started pressing the screen, maybe adjusting the range of the gun. Meanwhile, her partner, some boy with a mohawk and piercings all over his face, tugged a simple pistol out of his bag.

Wolf had seen enough. These kids were clearly up to something, he'd known that much from the moment he saw them scaling that building. But he'd just assumed it would be vandalism, or some other relatively harmless crime. Now…

Giving up on stealth, Wolf walked toward them. He sniffed the air and almost gagged at the scent of cigarettes and junk food.

"What are you two doing?"

The girl froze and the boy swung the pistol around so that the barrel was trained shakily at Wolf's torso. Wolf didn't so much as blink. The torso was only fatal if the victim didn't receive any immediate medical attention. The head would have been a much safer shot. These kids definitely had no idea what they were doing.

The girl sneered up at him. "Ugh, seriously? The first person to interrogate us and it's not even a Rampion? Talk about a let-down." She retrained her focus on the screen. "Just shoot him Steve, I want to get this job done and over with so we can collect our money."

The boy, Steve, turned pale. He clearly hadn't though he would've actually had to _shoot _someone.

His hesitation was all Wolf needed.

He lunged for Steve's arm, gripping it tightly in both hands. And then twisted. _Hard_.

It was hard to tell which was louder, the crack of breaking bones or Steve's agonised yelp. The girl looked up, wide-eyed as her comrade slumped to the ground, clutching his arm, now dangling at a funny angle.

The girl's face turned as pale as the white stripes in her hair. She looked up at Wolf with large, terrified eyes.

"What are you?" She whispered shakily.

Wolf picked up Steve's gun. "I'm a wolf."

Before the girl could say anything else, he slammed the butt of the pistol onto her skull and she crumpled like a sack of potatoes.

**A/N: Wolf's back! Been a while since we've heard from him!**

**We've gotten some insight as to what Wolf's been up to since Scarlet found him, as well as how he feels about the Lunars (and Scarlet). Will he do anything else to undermine them? What were those teens trying to do when Wolf caught them? Is this story finally gaining some traction? **

**Please review!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Scarlet**

"They were found just outside the east wall of headquarters." Kai told them, holding up a tablet that showed a picture of two teenagers with dyed hair and facial piercings. "Both of them were unconscious at the time of their discovery. Just a couple of runaway delinquents. They aren't even prodigies."

"What were they doing here?" Cinder asked.

"Well, the girl has refused to say anything, but we've found out from her partner that they'd been hired by the Lunars to create a bit of chaos."

Thorne raised an eyebrow at this. "Why would the hire non-prodigies? I thought these people had an army of prodigies or something."

"That is what Levana has told us," Kai conceded. "but we have no way of knowing if this claim is true or just a bluff. Her so-called "army" might be barely a hundred prodigies."

"Keep telling yourself that." Jacin muttered.

Kai ignored him and continued. "She might also be attempting to send a message that she can turn anyone against us, whether they be prodigies or not. But that's no even the most interesting part. The description the male gave us for the person who subdued him and his partner matches up with Wolf."

It took conscious effort for Scarlet to keep her jaw off the ground. _Wolf_ took these kids down? Was he insane? He knew that the Rampions were hunting him! What was he doing, drawing attention to himself like that? Especially with Scarlet having more questions to ask him about the Lunars! He was a valuable resource for information and if her experience with the Rampions has taught her anything, it's that they aren't fond of listening to people they consider criminals.

She constructed her face into a mask of confusion, hoping it didn't look too fake. Acting wasn't her strong suit. "Why would he knock them out? He has to know by now that the Rampions aren't exactly fond of him."

"Maybe because he's a violent psychopath?" Thorne suggested sarcastically.

Scarlet glared at him.

"Ignoring Thorne, don't you think it's more likely that he was trying to redeem himself?" Cinder said, "After all, he didn't go to the trials just to show off, he was trying to join the Rampions!"

"Am I the only one who's suspicious of that?" Jacin asked, "If he was really created by the Lunars, it's safe to assume that he's one too. Maybe he'd been trying to get in to spy on the Rampions!"

Silence followed this new revelation. Could Wolf have really been on a mission from the Lunars? He hadn't seemed particularly loyal to them when Scarlet had questioned him. Aside from all that dodging he did at the beginning, he had given her some useful information. But he hadn't exactly had much of a choice. There was no way to explain away all the evidence Scarlet was throwing at him. He might have just been giving the only answer he could.

"Whether or not he was a spy no longer matters." Winter chirped unconcernedly. "After all, he didn't get accepted into the Rampions, so he can't spy! Besides, he might not have been a spy. Jacin and I sat next to him in the waiting area. He didn't feel like he wanted to hunt, though bolting was very appealing to him in those moments."

"Didn't stop him from trying to kill Hunter." Iko muttered.

"Hunter didn't truly believe his own accusations." Winter murmured, "All I sensed from him was desire."

Scarlet frowned in confusion. "What would Hunter get from fighting Wolf?"

Kai shrugged. "I try to stay away from Hunter and his thoughts. He's a bit… chaotic."

Iko snorted. "That's an understatement."

"What Hunter wanted from Wolf doesn't matter!" Cinder interrupted, "What matters is those two teenagers Wolf knocked out! Kai, do we know anything else about them?"

Kai shrugged and spread his hands. "Not really. They had a chip with them, to help them communicate with the Lunars without being detected. The Council's pretty pleased about this, since they think they can use it to trick the Lunars and lure them into a trap or something."

"They seriously think it will be that easy?" Jacin asked incredulously.

"No, but it's the best shot they have of taking the Lunars down. Time's running out. The Council only has about six weeks before the Lunar's attack. We've got to take them down, no matter what."

Scarlet left the headquarters later than she would've liked that evening, but she couldn't risk leaving early. That would definitely lead to some suspicion. Still, she was scowling as she finally stepped through the revolving front doors.

She all but ran back to her hotel room and threw her communicator band on the couch. Okay, that's all her bases covered. Now for the hard part: finding Wolf. Again. If he was wandering around Rampion headquarters, that probably meant he wasn't staying in the criminal area anymore. Seriously, how hard is it to stay in one place?

For the sake of efficiency, Scarlet decided to search for Wolf from the rooftops, using her power to jump from building to building. Sure, it will probably attract attention, but trying to find him on the ground would take too long, and it's not like she can ask for help. Besides, the guy's not exactly inconspicuous. She shouldn't have to be in the air for too long. Right?

Wrong.

Scarlet wasn't sure how long she spent looking (though it felt like hours). What she did know was that she was on her seventeenth building before she finally caught a glimpse of a large frame awkwardly weaving through a bustling crowd of people. Even from way up on the roof of a building several stories high, she could see the glint of his bright green eyes.

Allowing herself a triumphant smirk, Scarlet floated down to the ground. She strode confidently through the thick mob, earning herself plenty of glares as she elbowed people out of her way. Hey, just because she was a superhero didn't mean she had to be polite!

Once she finally reached Wolf, Scarlet gave him a quick tap on the shoulder, just in case he hadn't noticed her yet (with his advanced senses it was impossible to tell).

He jolted in surprise and turned to look behind him, his eyes narrowed with suspicion, though they immediately widened when he saw that it was Scarlet.

"We need to talk." She told him shortly before wrapping her fingers around his elbow and dragging him away from the crowd.

She tugged him into the shadow of the building she'd spotted him from and let go of his arm, leaning against the wall. Wolf, for his part, looked a bit bewildered. Well, she did pretty much appear out of nowhere and dragged him around like a dog on a leash.

He cocked his head. "What did you want to talk about?"

Scarlet jerked her thumb in the general direction of Rampion headquarters. "Some teenagers were found unconscious back at HQ. Their description of their attacker fits yours."

"You want to know if it really was me?"

She nodded.

Wolf scratched his head, looking vaguely embarrassed. "Well, I just saw them sneaking around headquarters and they had some pretty sophisticated equipment with them so…"

"You knocked them out?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

He blinked at her in confusion. "I already told you, they were acting suspicious."

"No, I mean why would you help the Rampions? We haven't exactly done much good for you these past weeks."

Wolf frowned, as if he was confused by this as well. Scarlet forced herself to be patient as he considered, though it wasn't easy. She watched as he ran a large hand through his hair, flattening it briefly before the locks popped right back up to their previous wild state. He had faint bruises under his eyes. Hadn't he been sleeping? Then again, where would he sleep? The Rampions patrolled the streets at night to catch escaped criminals like him and it's not like any normal people would be willing to house him.

A light tapping drew Scarlet's gaze down to Wolf's foot, which was beating a frantic rhythm. She remembered how it was doing the exact same thing when she first met him in Gille's tavern and an involuntary smile came to her lips. Even sleep deprived he had too much energy.

"I think…" Scarlet jolted back to the present as Wolf finally spoke. "it has to do with the fact that they are against the Lunars. Do you know that old saying? "The enemy of my enemy is my friend"? It's like that. I think."

Scarlet grinned. "So that makes me your friend?"

Wolf said nothing, though his cheeks seemed to darken.

She chuckled and patted him on the shoulder. His muscles tensed at the touch. "Relax, I'm just teasing you. Anyway, mind if I ask some questions about the Lunars? You know, seeing as they're your enemy too."

He nodded. "Though I'm not sure I'll be able to answer all of them. I was just a soldier, I don't know any of their big plans or top-secret projects or anything."

Scarlet shrugged. "It's a start. But first, we've got to work out a schedule or something cus I can't just keep tearing the city apart looking for you every time I want to talk."

Wolf seemed a bit taken aback by this but consented. "Okay, if you think that's what we should do."

"I do. How about same time next week, by that big tree in the centre of the park. You know the one?"

"I think so…"

"Great! It's a date!"

Scarlet bit back a laugh as Wolf blushed again.

**A/N: Been a while since I've written these two interacting! I've missed it.**

**The Rampions have found those two teenagers, and a chip from the Lunars. Sound familiar? ;)**

**Will the Rampions hasty plan go the way they expect? Will Wolf manage to go much longer without being discovered? Why didn't I write more Wolflet into this chapter?**

**Please review! **


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Thorne**

Thorne's foot drummed rapidly against the floor as he scowled at the computer monitor in front of him. It wasn't even the latest model! You'd think that the governing power of the entire world would have some more top-notch equipment. Aces, what a let-down.

The Emperor was standing beside the computer, holding a small chip up to the light. "We don't know for sure that this chip is for communication as those two runaways believed, since it's true purpose has been very expertly disguised. We've sent it to be examined by all the technopaths and cyberpaths in our branch without success. They all swear that it's merely an empty data-storage device. So, the Council and I have decided to proceed with our earlier plan and attempt to use this chip to lay a trap for the Lunars."

"And why do we need to be here for this?" Jacin cut in.

"You and the rest of your team have had the most confrontations with the Lunars. We thought that you might have some useful ideas."

"We've had one battle."

"And got our butts kicked." Iko grumbled.

Crown Jewel glared at them with annoyance. "Even so, it's more experience than any of our other teams. Some of you have even stopped to have conversations with them." Her sharp glare turned to Cinder, who scowled in response.

"Am I the only one who's wondering why we're using some old computer to talk to a group of psycho prodigies?" Thorne asked, gesturing to the device in question.

Cinder and Jacin face-palmed simultaneously. Spades, didn't these people have any faith in him?

"This chip could very well be designed to hack into devices and steal information." The Emperor said, "After all, our staff are positive that its purpose is storage. Though this computer isn't up to our usual standards, it also has absolutely nothing on it, making it perfectly suited for our tests."

Thorne raised an eyebrow at him. "I didn't understand a single word you just said."

Cinder rolled her eyes. "What a surprise."

"What? Not all of us understand technology Cinder!"

"I'm honestly surprised you understand anything." Jacin deadpanned.

Thorne huffed.

"Are you finished?" President Star said impatiently, "We've got to score an actual hit against the Lunars!"

Kai shot him a look. "With a chip that you don't even know will work?"

"Hold your tongue Diplomat!"

The Emperor sighed. "Look, can we just get this done?"

A collection of nods followed his statement.

Now with a shaky truce established between the two parties, the Emperor inserted the chip into the slot in the computer. Thorne expected flashing lights, sparks flying out of the computer's ancient monitor, a loud noise. Instead, some small words flashed in the top left corner of the screen: ESTABLISHING CONNECTION TO 1-0…

The group of superheros huddled around the computer exchanged confused glances. Which made Thorne feel a little better. At least he wasn't the only one going in blind this time.

A hand suddenly clapped down on his shoulder and Thorne yelped in pain. Spades, doesn't the Emperor know his own strength by now?

"Captain, I wish to have a word with you regarding your recent transition into the Rampions."

Thorne smirked at the use of the alias. "Eh, I've got nothing better to do right now."

The Emperor led him away from the group, drawing several suspicious glances from Thorne's team. Jacin in particular looked dubious of the Emperor's excuse.

Thorne rolled his eyes. Lighten up Guard-boy!

Once they were safely away from the others, the Emperor opened his mouth to speak. Thorne beat him to it. "I haven't found that Wolf-guy yet. So sorry to ruin your expectations. After all, it's so easy to find someone who doesn't want to be found, isn't it?"

The Emperor shot him an annoyed look for his flippancy but nodded in understanding. "It is natural that you'll face difficulties with your assignment, and there doesn't seem to be any immediate danger, since there have been no other incidents like at the trials. It might have just been a result of being in a heated battle situation. Nevertheless, we cannot allow Wolf to remain free. Not only is he a danger to everyone around him, he is also Lunar. It is of utmost importance that we apprehend him as soon as possible."

"Do you ever speak like a normal human being?" Thorne drawled.

The Emperor's mouth twitched into a half-smile. "I'm not a normal human being."

Having made his point clear, the leader of the Council went back to the others.

Thorne groaned and ran a frustrated hand through his perfectly styled hair. It wasn't that he wasn't trying to find Wolf (after all, it would line his pockets very well), it's just that it was really, really hard. He'd followed up on Kai's suggestion and zipped around the criminal area of town and got nothing. Figuring he was probably hiding in a less obvious place, Thorne started wandering around relatively empty neighbourhoods and searching abandoned buildings in city centre or apartments that just never got finished and were now closed off with tape. All he found was nothing, nothing and more nothing. You'd think a wolf-human hybrid thing would be easier to find.

Suddenly, a hissing, sparking noise came from the old computer. Curious, Thorne zipped over to it, standing in his original place in front of it in half a second. And good thing too, because there was a lot going on.

What had previously been a mostly blank screen was now glitching and blurring, flashing images of colours and switching to static. The chip planted into the device was sparking and glowing white-hot.

The Emperor was the first to react, snatching the chip away from the computer, hissing as the burning plastic touched his bare fingertips.

While the computer monitor switched back to black, the chip continued to burn, glowing brighter and brighter as its temperature increased…

Finally, it exploded, sending tiny pieces of metal and plastic flying into the legs and knees of its wary onlookers. Normally, this would've prompted Thorne to look at the new scorch marks on his pants with distaste, but he was too distracted by what else the chip left behind.

It looked like… lighting. Pure, crackling, sparking lighting, condensed to just a small nugget of energy. As Thorne watched, the nugget grew and expanded, becoming a writhing mass of electricity.

Everyone took an uneasy step back as they watched, eyes wide with fear and uncertainty as the lightning grew. It had only just reached Thorne's collar bone before it finally stopped.

Thorne frowned at it warily, half-expecting it to explode just like the chip that housed it.

Something thin and golden flicked out of it. He blinked with surprise. Was that… hair?

Another strand flicked out, followed by another, and another, forming locks and fistfuls of golden-blonde hair. The lightning slowly began to condense into a new shape, stretching out arms and legs. The crackling tendrils wove together, forming patches of pale skin. On the part that Thorne assumed was its face, a mouth started to form, along with a nose and one blue eye.

Eventually, there was nothing left of the original shapeless mass of electricity. In its place was a small girl, no more than five feet tall, wearing a body suit with strange blue markings that glowed dimly against the shimmering black fabric.

The girl smiled shyly at the Rampions surrounding her. Nobody smiled back. They were all too shocked. They'd just seen a chip explode releasing what looked like a bunch of lightning that turned into the girl standing nervously in front of them! What else were they supposed to feel?

Finally, Thorne was the one to break the silence. "Aces… is that all _hair?_"

The girl squeaked and dropped to the ground, curling into a little ball and wrapping her blonde locks around her.

Cinder shot Thorne a glare. "Seriously?"

"Come on, look at it! It's practically a blanket!"

Winter stepped toward the girl, light-footed and graceful as always, and stooped down to her level. "Don't be afraid. We will not hurt you. And you have such beautiful hair."

The girl's terrified eyes peeked out at Winter from behind the protective barrier of hair, but she said nothing.

Scarlet clapped her hands. "Maybe some introductions are in order. My name is Scarlet, also known as the Red Comet. The idiot is named Carswell and insists on being called "Captain". Feel free to ignore him."

"C-Carswell?"

Thorne smirked and saluted her. "Yep, that's my name! Most folks just call me Thorne though, or Captain. And you are?"

The girl's eyes stretched wide with wonder. "I-I'm Cress."

**A/N: FINALLY, CRESS JOINS UP WITH THE REST OF THE GANG! AND I'VE GIVEN YOU ALL A CLUE TO WHAT HER POWER IS! Her actual power will be explained in detail in the next chapter, but feel free to put your guesses in the reviews!**

**Cress has finally escaped the Lunars, but how will they react when they realise that their top hacker is missing? Will the Rampions trust her enough to let her into their ranks? When will there be Cresswell in this story (because I'm sure you all are seriously deprived by now)?**

**Please review!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Cress**

Cress fiddled nervously with a lock of hair as she looked up at the Council of the Rampions seated in front of her. The Council of the Rampions! These were some of the most powerful and famous prodigies on the planet and they were sitting here, _right in front of her!_ If it wasn't for the fact that she was completely terrified, Cress would probably be crying out of pure awe and amazement. As it was, she was more preoccupied praying to the skies that she wasn't about to be thrown in Placen.

"So you said your name was Cress, correct?" The Emperor asked her.

"Um, my full name is Crescent Moon Darnel. Cress is just an abbreviation."

General Thunder leaned forward on his chair, eyes narrowed. "And I take it you're a prodigy?"  
"Yes General. My alias is 1-0."

"Rather inappropriate isn't it?" Crown Jewel sniffed derisively, "Given your superpower is turning into electricity."

Cress gulped. "A-actually my superpower is the ability to dissolve my DNA into code. Essentially, I become a collection of ones and zeros."

Crown Jewel glared at Cress, obviously not happy with being corrected, though the other Councillors seemed (Cress hoped) impressed.

"That is the most advanced form of cyberpathy I've ever heard of!" Crime Minister murmured.

"But when you first arrived here, you were just a mass of lightning!" President Star protested. "I'm pretty sure that's not what code looks like."

Despite her situation, Cress found herself lifting her chin with pride. Truth be told, she'd wanted to tell someone about her escape programme since the moment she discovered it, but she'd never dreamed of being able to tell the Council themselves about it!

"That chip you found contained a programme that, when merged with my own coding, would temporarily alter my powers to turn me into electricity, allowing me to escape the confines of the chip and re-form." She allowed herself a small smile. "Sort of like bioengineering, but with code."

Primal raised his eyebrows. "Very impressive!"

Cress felt her smile grow wider.

"Why is the alteration of your powers only temporary?" Asked Crime Minister. She actually sounded fascinated.

"Code I merge with while inside devices doesn't stay with me after I exit the device. I think it's like an immune system. Outside code is seen by my body as a virus so it ends up dismantling the code when I re-form so it doesn't affect my body processes. The code I used to alter my powers only lasted as long as it did because I added aspects of my own code to it temporarily confusing my systems. If that makes sense."

It clearly didn't, not to the Councillors at least, but they nodded anyway.

Crime Minister frowned down at Cress thoughtfully. "You've talked a lot about your own personal biology during this interrogation, but when you reformed last time, you were wearing clothing as well. Can you do that with any clothing or…"

Cress felt her face grown warm. "N-no, this suit I'm wearing has just been specifically designed to reform and dissolve with me. It has advanced software programmed into it so that it doesn't mix with my code and the fabric is dyed with, um, with my blood. To imbibe it with my DNA."

"And the blue lights one the suit?" Crown Jewel asked, seemingly unaffected by the news that Cress's clothes had her blood on them.

"I'm not sure to be honest." Cress said studying the markings in question. "They used to be just metal wires connecting the different data storage beads sewn into the fabric. They've never glowed before."

"Hazard a guess then as to why they're glowing now."

Cress bit her lip, scrounging her mind for a reason. "Maybe… it's just left-over code from the programme I used to alter my powers? My DNA usually allows the suit to expel the excess code but since this programme was a near match of my own code it might have managed to bypass the suits defences. Maybe."

"Can we please stop talking about this girl's fashion and acknowledge the elephant in the room here?" President Star asked exasperatedly, "That chip had been provided by the Lunars! This girl could be a Lunar spy!"

Cress squeaked and shrank into her long hair. And things were just going well! "I'm not a spy, I swear!"

"Then how come you were in that chip?"

"I-I was a member of the Lunar's before." Cress stammered out, "But I'm not loyal to them at all! I hate what they're doing! I-I want to stop them, not spy for them!"

Crown Jewel snorted. "If you hate them so much why did you join them in the first place?"  
"I had no choice! During the Blood Moon Time, the Lunars went around looking for prodigy-hating parents who had prodigy children they didn't want. I was one of those children. I've been with the Lunars ever since I was a baby!"

General Thunder looked at his fellow Councillors, his brow creased with doubt. "Being a member of an organisation for the entirety of one's childhood usually makes them extremely loyal to the organisation."

"Not when they lock you away from pretty much any human contact and force you to hack into secret government files so they can hurt people!" Cress screamed back at them.

The Council stared at her, shock written all over their faces. At her outburst, or at the revelation that she'd hacked into their secret documents? Cress didn't know, and at that moment she didn't care. Scared tears tracked down her cheeks as she thought of what life would be like, staying in a prison cell in a building full of hostile prodigies.

Her tears started pooling faster.

The Emperor got up from his seat and walked over to Cress, kneeling so that he was eye-level with her. "Calm down, we won't hurt you."

His tone was so soft and gentle and, and _fatherly_ that Cress stopped crying out of shock.

"You said that you were a hacker for the Lunars, yes?"

"Th-their best one." Rather than pride, her voice dripped with shame as she said this.

The Emperor smiled. "Well that's a stroke of luck isn't it?"

Cress cocked her head with confusion.

"By escaping from them, you did the Lunars a real blow. They will have much more trouble accessing all of our data now. And you know, the Rampions could always use another hacker."

Cress's eyes widened. Was he…? He couldn't be…?

"Emperor, I must advise against this course of action." Crown Jewel said sharply.

The Emperor waved his hand dismissively. "Oh, she'll be under very close surveillance the whole time, don't worry. Besides, you heard Crime Minister: She is the most powerful cyberpath that we know of, probably in the world! I'd much rather have an ability like that working with us instead of festering in a prison cell."

Crown Jewel's lips thinned with annoyance, but she said nothing.

The Emperor stood and addressed his fellow Councillors. "Are there any other objections to letting 1-0 join the Rampions?"

Though President Star scowled with distrust, there were none.

Relieved laughter bubbled out of Cress's mouth. She wasn't going to Placen! And she was a Rampion! Finally, finally she'd be able to use her powers to help people! This was what she'd dreamed of since she was seven years old and had been sent to her prison of computers. And, Cress realised, a blush forming on her cheeks, she'd get to be close to Carswell Thorne…

**A/N: AT LAST, WE KNOW WHAT CRESS'S POWER IS! Also, sciency talk. So much sciency talk…**

**Cress has officially joined the Rampions, meaning (Cresswell lovers rejoice!) lots more Cress/Thorne interactions! But how will the Lunar's react to her disappearance? Will the Council ever trust her? How many more chapters will I force you to wait for any real Cresswell? **

**Please review!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! Also, there is a very minor spoiler for supernova in this chapter. I don't know if you can even call it a spoiler it's so small, but still. You have been warned…**

**Cinder**

Cinder sat on an operating table with her robotic hand resting on her lap, palm up with the central chamber open putting all of the wires and components of the limb in full view. One of the Rampions' scientists was peering inside it, occasionally checking the blueprint displayed on his tablet. This was the third check-up this week and, frankly, Cinder was fed-up. The Rampions insisted that it was a necessary caution since they had never designed anything to be merged seamlessly with the human body in such a way as Cinder's prosthetics, but she'd had them for roughly two weeks now with no issue. How long was she going to have to keep coming to these things until Research and Development was satisfied? A year?

The scientist working on her hand checked the diagram one last time before giving a satisfied nod and closing the chamber. "Seems to be perfectly in order. Have you experienced any problems with this hand? Irritations where the limb meets your arm? Aches? Does it feel like dead weight?"

"No, it's fine."

He nodded again and dismissed the diagram on the tablet. "Good, good. Now, there was one last thing I wanted to discuss with you Miss Linh."

Cinder raised an eyebrow.

The scientist rose to his full height (which wasn't very tall) and strode over to one of the holographic projectors stationed in the room. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a hard drive which he inserted into the port on the projector's base. Cinder frowned with interest as the machine hummed to life and a beam of blurred coloured light burst from its lens. Gradually, the image sharpened into… into…

"Is that… me?" Cinder murmured.

"And every one of your technological additions and enhancements. Very impressive, no?"

_Impressive,_ wasn't the word Cinder would have used.

The holograph was a highly detailed cross-section of her own body. She could see her control panel set into her brain and the wires connecting her nervous system to her prosthetics. There was her net link, the tiny projectors in her retinas that displayed information, _everything._

Some of it, even Cinder hadn't known about.

She hadn't known about the synthetic tissue compromising whole chambers of her heart, or the metal vertebrae and ribs, or the metal splints supporting the bones of her right leg, the leg she'd always thought was completely human.

Was there any part of her that remained untouched by technology?

The scientist didn't seem to notice (or care about) Cinder's shock and moved so he was standing next to the projection.

He gestured to a small black smudge attached to her spine. "I was wondering if, by any chance, you knew what this device does."

She glared at him. "What, you assume that I know exactly what everything in my body is for? Some of this stuff I didn't even know about before today!"

He raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Alright, I was just wondering if you would be able to prove my theory."

"Which is?"

Instead of answering, the scientist asked Cinder, "Do you know what makes prodigies prodigies?"

Cinder raised an eyebrow at him. "Isn't it just some mutation in the prodigy's DNA? That's what President Star said at the trials."

"That is more of an aftereffect, and there are many theories as to what exactly causes that effect. Several branches of Research and Development are dedicated solely to researching these theories. The one I find most plausible is the Monteith Theory of Prodigy Origin, which states that, long ago, there was a supernova not too far from our very own solar system. The star dust from that supernova settled into Earthen soil and water and mingled with the very air we breathe. Monteith believed that every living being on Earth has some of this star dust inside of them and that, when mingled with the right chemicals, could create a reaction inside its host organism gifting it with abnormal abilities."

"So… you're saying that prodigies are people who drank a bunch of chemicals?"

The scientist huffed in frustration. "I wasn't finished yet!"

"Sorry, not sorry."

He glared at her with annoyance. "Monteith theorised that the chemicals required to trigger this reaction were the same chemicals released into the bloodstream during times of great stress."

Cinder snorted. "If that were true, every single university student studying for their final exams would be superheroes."

"You must have missed the "great" part. Have you not noticed Miss Linh, that every prodigy who wasn't born with their powers gained them after a traumatic experience?"

Cinder actually _hadn't _noticed, though in her defence, she didn't actually know any origin stories.

"This is very interesting and all, but what does this have to do with that smudge on my spine?"

"That smudge is a chip wired directly to your nervous system. I did a quick scan based on a device I created while I was researching the Monteith Theory that looks for particles of star dust from this supernova. And here's where it gets interesting."

The scientist removed the hard drive from the projector and the cross-section vanished (to Cinder's relief). He pocketed it and pulled out another hard drive from his other pocket. He inserted this new drive into the projector and a new image flickered to life.

It was another cross section, but instead of focusing on all of the technology that kept Cinder alive, this one was dark and smudgy, except for one pinpoint of bright orange light focused on a spot on Cinder's spine, right where the chip was.

"That," declared the scientist, pointing at the spot, "is all of the star dust from the Monteith supernova in your body. In every other scan I've taken, the stardust was far more spread out, maybe slightly more concentrated in certain areas of the body in the case of certain prodigies, but never confined to one particular area."

"What's your point?" Cinder asked.

"I believe, Miss Linh, that you are a prodigy biologically as well as cybernetically. And that chip is suppressing your power."

Cinder gaped at him. Questions buzzed around her mind like hundreds of bees. A biological prodigy? But then, what was her power? Why would anyone want to suppress it? Was it some sort of terrible, destructive ability? But what could be so destructive that it would have to be completely contained?

The scientist's face softened, and he smiled at her kindly, almost fatherly. "It's understandable that this would be a bit of a shock, and even more understandable that you would want to forget all about this and go on with your life as normal. But I may be able to damage this device just enough to let at least some of your power seep through and give us an indication as to what it does. But I won't do so without your consent."

The offer was both tempting and repulsive. The powers Cinder already had gave her enough trouble by themselves, she didn't need another one adding more chaos to the mix. Besides, there must have been a reason this power was sealed away. What if unleashing it caused more harm than good? What if it hurt innocent people as it was unleashed? 

But Cinder's curiosity was piqued. Despite knowing how potentially dangerous this new power might be, she couldn't help but wonder what it was. This power might be the key to bringing about the Lunars downfall, and the sooner that organisation was destroyed the better. It had just as much potential for good as it did for destruction. The question was, how easy would it be for it to tip from one end of the spectrum to the other.

"This power, it will be weak, right? If this device was only damaged a tiny bit."

The scientist scratched his head. "The potential of the power is unclear. I've never come across this situation before, and I'm not sure how the quantity of star dust will affect the power's strength, but it is reasonable to theorise that it will be severely diminished if it is only partially released."

Cinder exhaled. "Alright then. Do it."

The scientist nodded and, carefully and deliberately, placed a single finger on Cinder's spine.

It felt like a red-hot poker was being driven into her vertebrae. Cruel, hungry heat spready up Cinder's spine until it felt like the entire structure was on fire. It was agony, it was _torture. _Her programming took over and she blacked out.

**A/N: Anyone else get déjà vu while they were reading this?  
**

**Cinder's got a hidden superpower, but what is it? Why was it kept hidden? And why did I never mention the scientist's name?**

**Please review!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Kai**

Kai felt a little self-conscious, walking around headquarters in casual clothes. He was attracting an awful lot of stares, that's for certain.

He tilted his chin up in defiance. So what if he wasn't in uniform? It's not like it was compulsory to wear the uniform inside headquarters. Besides, he was finished for the day. What Rampion wore their uniform after they'd finished for the day?

Still, it was with relief that he stepped out of the elevator and into the R&D department. All the people down here were way too busy with various projects to notice his presence.

Kai didn't go down to R&D often. Sometimes if they were working on something he found particularly fascinating he'd go to see if they'd made any recent discoveries. But (as far as he knew anyway) the most interesting thing they were working on at the moment were Cinder's prosthetics, and that felt way too personal to actively learn about.

He raised his communicator band up to his face. "Display recent messages."

A list of message subjects flashed across the screen, with the newest one flashing at the top. Kai clicked on it. He just wanted to double-check. It'd do him no good to knock on the door of the wrong lab and interrupt whatever the scientists were doing.

GOT ANOTHER CHECK-UP AT R AND D. THEY ARE BEING REALLY CAUTIOUS WITH MY NEW PROSTHETICS. IF WE GET SENT ON ANOTHER SURPRISE MISSION I'LL BE IN LAB 13A. DON'T BOTHER SENDING A MESSAGE THEY MAKE ME TAKE OFF MY COMMUNICATOR BAND IN CASE IT ACCIDENTALLY STARTS RECORDING STUFF. THESE GUYS ARE SUPER PARANOID.

SENT FROM MECHANIC 17 MINUTES AGO.

"Lab 13A" Kai muttered to himself. He checked the sign of the nearest lab. 10B. He wasn't far. The thought made his heart jump.

Taking a deep breath, he continued down the hallway. It wasn't a big deal. Really, there was absolutely nothing to be nervous about. It wasn't like he was asking her on-on a _date_ or something like that. He was just going to ask if she would be open to a walk around the town, just to… get to know each other better. As friends. Definitely not a date.

So why were his palms so sweaty?

Kai reached lab 13A. By now his heart was thundering like a stampeding bull. He pressed his fingertip to the scanner beside the door. A dry, robotic voice intoned: "FINGERPRINT IDENTIFIED. KAITO ROYAL, ALIAS: DIPLOMAT. ACCESS GRANTED."

The door slid open smoothly and Kai stepped through into the room. And froze. He was no expert, but he was pretty sure that you didn't have to be unconscious for a prosthetics check-up.

"Dmitri, what happened?" He cried, rushing over to Cinder's body sprawled on top of the operating table. Her tan face was unnaturally pale.

The scientist sniffed. "That's Dr Erland to you Kaito, and she is completely fine."

"She doesn't look fine!"

"Well, she is. I discovered an anomaly in her cybernetics and carried out a test in order to figure out what it's function is."

"You could have just asked her!"

"I did. She didn't know what it did either."

Kai gaped at him. Not even Cinder knew what this thing did? She'd always seemed so sure of her body's capabilities. The fact that it had a feature even she didn't know about seemed impossible!

A groan escaped Cinder's lips and her eyes fluttered open.

"Cinder? How do you feel?" Kai asked, sitting down beside her.

She turned her head and stared blearily at him. "Kai? What are you doing here?"

"Yes, what are you doing here?" Dr Erland asked suspiciously.

Kai ignored him. "I wanted to talk to you. Are you okay?"  
"I think so." Cinder said, sitting up. She glanced at Dr Erland. "Do you know-?"

"Well, given the fact that you've been awake for a total of seven seconds, no."

"I was just asking!"  
"A rather stupid question."

Kai sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Doctor, don't you have some other project you should be working on?"

Dr Erland scowled at him but nodded sharply and walked stiffly out of the room, leaving Kai and Cinder alone. Together.

Kai cleared his throat awkwardly. "Sorry about him. He can be a bit… sharp."

"That's an understatement. So what did you want to talk about? Have the Lunars robbed another hospital?"

"Oh, no, nothing like that! I was just wondering if you'd like to go for a walk around the city with me." The words were easier to get out than Kai had thought they'd be.

Cinder blinked at him, obviously taken aback. "A walk?"

"Yeah. We haven't really hung out much, and I would like to get to know you better."

Cinder continued to stare at him. He smiled at her. _It's not a date, it doesn't matter if she says no, it's not a date, it doesn't matter if she says no…_

"Okay."

Kai grinned, hoping it didn't look too relieved. "Great! I'll meet you outside!"  
"Can I-" she paused, swallowing, "can I change into something more casual first? This uniform tends to attract attention."

"Why do you think I'm not wearing mine?" He replied, smirking. All of his nerves from before had winked out of existence. She'd said yes. She was going to go for a walk with him. He'd punch the air with triumph, but he had a feeling that would look pretty stupid.

"How have we not been attacked by an army of fangirls yet?" Cinder asked wondrously.

Kai grinned at her. "The power of the hoodie."  
"No one thinks it's suspicious to be wearing a hoodie in the middle of summer?"

"I think they just think I'm crazy."

"Aren't you hot? Or does that thing have some kind of secret cooling system?"

"Sadly, no. It's just a regular hoodie. Though right now, a better word would be "torture device"."

Cinder sniggered.

Despite Kai's immense discomfort, he was actually really enjoying himself. Cinder was fun to talk to, and, ignoring the heat, it was a very nice day. The fact that he didn't have to deal with Thorne's suggestive grinning and Iko's dreamy sighing didn't hurt either.

"Have you lived in New Beijing long?"

"Since I was eleven. Before, I lived in Europe."

"Cool! What was that like?"

Cinder hesitated. "I… don't actually remember. I had the operation that turned me into a cyborg when I was eleven and I don't remember anything before that."

Kai's eyebrows rose with interest. "Oh. Do you know what happened?"

"I was in a car crash. The collision killed both my parents and very nearly killed me."

He put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. It must have been a really bad crash if it meant you had to get a whole new hand and leg."

"Among other things." Cinder laughed bitterly, "Like a whole lot of hatred for example."

There was a pause. Kai wasn't blind. He saw the way the other teams had looked at Cinder during trials, and the disgusted looks they shot at her metal hand. He knew that people didn't like that fact that Cinder was part machine. He just didn't know _why._ So what if she had prosthetics? So what if she had a computer in her brain? She was still an incredible person, a prodigy with some of the coolest powers Kai had ever seen. He just didn't know why other people refused to see that.

"For what it's worth," He ventured tentatively, "I think the whole cyborg thing is pretty cool."

Cinder stared at him, obviously caught off guard by the comment, before smirking and rolling her eyes. "You're way too nice to be beating people up for a living."

Kai grinned at her. "Even if they're evil people?"

"Even if they're evil people."

**A/N: Kaider fans rejoice! I've got to give these two more time in the spotlight.**

**Dr Erland is here and being as blunt as ever. Stars almighty, I love writing him so much!**

**When will Cinder's new power manifest? And when will Kaider become official in this fic?**

**Please review!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Jacin**

Jacin stared down at the tablet in his hands, imagining onyx eyes narrowed into a glare behind the sheer veil displayed on the screen.

"I assume that you have already seen to it that the hacker won't be able to leak any information that she's picked up over the years." Levana said sharply.

Jacin shrugged. "I would've, but it's kind of hard to commit murder in a building that's full of superheroes."

"Don't use that tone with me Guard!" she snapped, "Don't forget that I am your queen!"

"Apologies your highness, I'm merely pointing out that killing 1-0 isn't exactly easy."

"You simply need the right plan." Levana practically purred in reply, "Double Ganger has come up with a most elegant little scheme to snuff out that impertinent child before she can do any more damage. All you and Soul Blood have to do is get her into the square without drawing suspicion."

"You're including Winter in this?" Jacin cried incredulously.

"Well of course. Soul Blood has reported some useful information, but she still hasn't done nearly enough for our organisation. A small contribution here and there will help to fill her debts.'

_Debts, _Jacin thought bitterly, _as if she owes something to you for the years of torture you put her through._

"My Queen, if I may, Winter isn't suited to be part of an assassination. She hates death! Death is pretty much the main feature of her hallucinations! Being instrumental in killing someone might accelerate the decline of her mind!"

Levana adjusted her veil unconcernedly. "Soul Blood knew the potential consequences of neglecting her telepathy from the very beginning. The only one she has to blame for her current mental state is herself."

_Keep telling yourself that your highness_. _Whatever helps you sleep at night._

"I will have Double Ganger compile the plan into a simple instruction format and forward it to you within the hour." Levana continued, "You are to ensure that Soul Blood will cooperate within that time."

Without ceremony, she ended the call and Jacin's screen went dark. He looked up at his dorm wall and contemplated throwing the device at it. Nah, that would probably do more damage to the wall than the actual tablet. Damn technology and its annoying durability.

"Guess I'd better find Winter." He muttered and strode over to the door.

As it turned out, finding Winter was much easier than Jacin thought it would be. As soon as he opened the door, he saw her standing just outside. Her eyes shone with unshed tears.

Sighing, he opened his arms. Winter immediately dove in, burying her face against his chest and wrapping her arms around his middle. He held her gently as her body shook with quiet sobs.

"Don't worry Trouble," He murmured, "I'll find a way to get you out of this. You won't have to do it."

Winter's only response was to squeeze him tighter.

"Winter, look at me."

She did, tears running down her cheeks and carving tracks that blended with her scars.

"You won't have to help kill anybody." Jacin told her, cupping her face in his hands, "I'll see to it. I promise nobody's blood will ever end up on your hands."

Winter shook her lovely head and stared up at him hopelessly, almost sympathetically.

"I promise."

Levana sent the instructions for the plan half an hour later. Again, Jacin thought of just throwing the tablet at the wall once he saw what Winter's role in the plan was. It was useless! Levana knew full well what the effects of being a part of an assassination would have on Winter's already fragile mental state, and still she gave Winter an utterly stupid role just for the sake of torturing her! For punishing her for no other reason than she was more beautiful than the queen could ever be! The thought made Jacin shake with rage.

As they were instructed, Winter and Jacin went to find Cress at around lunchtime, offering to show her around the city.

"Oh, I'd love to!" she squealed, "Are the others coming to?"

"Scarlet left to have lunch outside HQ and the others are on duty." Jacin told her smoothly.

Cress's face fell slightly with disappointment, but her eyes still shone with excitement as they left the building.

The next step was to take her to the square. Why the Lunars chose such a public place for a murder, Jacin had no idea. Double Ganger hadn't deigned to include that in the instructions.

Cress practically skipped into the square, her incredibly long blonde hair whipping in every direction as she spun on the spot, gazing at her surroundings with wonder and completely unaware of the people who were being hit in the face with her stray locks.

Winter choked out a sob and bit down on her fist to muffle it. Jacin placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

They'd done their part. Now, all they could do was wait.

A howl, low and eerie, rang through the air. The crowd stirred nervously, unnerved by the malicious sound. The square, which had been alive with chatter mere moments ago, had fallen into a deathly silence.

It wasn't long before a new sound pierced through the thick quiet, one that was even worse than its predecessor. A scream, shrill and terrified and painful.

That scream was soon joined by another, and another, until the people were all shrieking and yelling as they shoved and pushed in their panicked haste to get away from whatever was the source of their terror.

Cress seemed to have frozen with fear. Jacin and Winter stepped in front of her. To an outside view, it would appear they were protecting her. Really they were just making her location clear.

Eventually, the crowds had thinned enough that Jacin could make out the cause of their terror. A man, tall and bulky with muscle was stalking towards them, every inch a predator. His face was covered in blood, and when he grinned, it stained his teeth. Behind him were various people lying on the ground with their throats torn open or their heads facing backwards. There was no question as to who the blood on the man's face belonged to.

With an excited snarl, the man leaped forward, green eyes gleaming viciously.

Jacin charged forward and rammed his shoulder into the man's chest. He growled with annoyance and grabbed Jacin by the throat.

Gasping, he started to claw at the merciless fingers, trying desperately to get them to release their grip. The man only grinned and threw him hard onto the ground.

Jacin's skull hit the concrete pavement hard and stars blinked in his vision. He clumsily struggled to his feet just in time to see the man punch Winter in the gut and toss her aside as if she was no more than a doll.

Cress tried to run, but the man simply grabbed a fistful of her hair, stopping her in her tracks. She cried out in fear and pain as he dragged her toward him, grinning madly. Soon Cress would be within reach and he would tear out her throat or break her neck or smash her skull on the pavement. Soon, she would die.

A blur suddenly shot into the square and zoomed up to the man. It paused and condensed into the shape of Thorne, who wasted no time in pressing the barrel of a gun against the man's head.

"I'd advise you to let her go pal." he warned, sounding more serious than Jacin had ever heard him.

The man bared his teeth and tried to swipe at Thorne, but he simply zoomed out of the way.

A metal Iko suddenly ran out from behind a nearby building and threw a punch at the man's face. He howled with pain and clutched his nose, which had abruptly started spurting blood.

He roared at Thorne and Iko, who were circling him cautiously. He didn't notice the extra figure sneaking up behind him. Didn't notice her raising her shining metal hand. He heard the click as the tip of her pointer finger came off, but before he could even finish turning around, a dart was embedded in his neck.

The man swayed on his feet. He blinked once, twice, and then he fell to the ground, unconscious.

Jacin exhaled and made his way over to Winter. She shot him a bewildered glance which he met with a smile. "I promised, didn't I?"

**A/N: Well. That was intense.**

**The attempt on Cress's life was a failure, but will it be the last one? Who was the man who attacked her? Why have I refrained from writing Jacin for so long?**

**Please review!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Scarlet**

It had been a pretty good day so far. Scarlet's team hadn't been assigned to any missions in the morning, so she could actually relax a little (a rare occurrence for a Rampion) and she went out and had a nice lunch. She felt optimistic as she entered the Rampion headquarters again. After all, what could go wrong in one hour?

Scarlet checked her communicator band to see if any important messages had been sent. She always turned her band on silent when she was off duty. What was she supposed to do, be in work mode all the time?

As it turned out, she had received a couple messages. Most of them were just notifications that some team or another had been sent on a mission. The most recent one was from Kai. He wanted a team meeting.

Scarlet smirked. She may have only known him for a few weeks, but it was clear that Kai was a bit of a workaholic. She had yet to receive a message from him that wasn't about a meeting or a crime they'd been scheduled for. What could this meeting be about? Did the Lunars attack again?

"Seven civilians were killed." Kai said as he paced around the room, "No injuries, just… death."

The entire team was crammed into Kai's dorm, watching him intently as he listed the facts of the rampage that occurred less than an hour ago. No one else had spoken. Scarlet doubted she could even if she wanted to. A great lump had formed in her throat, cutting off all speech.

"Guard and Soul Blood were injured in the confrontation," Kai continued, "Though not seriously. The healers are optimistic that they'll be out of the med bay by this afternoon. 1-0 was also targeted by the attacker, but Captain was able to reach the scene before she could be harmed."

"It would have been a shame if she died just as we were getting to know each other." Thorne added, grinning at the petite blonde. The girl blushed bright red and smiled back shyly.

"Thorne can you please take this seriously?" Kai said dryly.

"Hey, I'm being super serious! I'm just trying to lighten the mood a bit!"

Cinder shot him a glare. "That's the opposite of being serious!"

"Just because something's serious doesn't mean we have to get all doom and gloom about it." Thorne retorted. "Believe me, I fully understand how severe this situation is. I was there, remember? That doesn't mean we need a better looking Jacin hanging around!"

"_Anyway…_" Kai interrupted loudly, "there is some good news! Since we successfully apprehended the attacker, our scientists are now able to study his DNA and figure out a way to combat others of his kind."

Scarlet tilted her head, eyes narrowed with confusion. "What?"

"Oh, right, sorry Scarlet I forgot you weren't there. The attacker was the guy from trials, Wolf."

"_What?_"

"You're actually surprised?" Thorne asked, "We already knew the guy was a psycho."

Scarlet looked around at her fellow teammates incredulously. "None of you guys think this is a bit strange? Wolf's been quiet for weeks, and now all of a sudden he goes on a bloodthirsty rampage?"

"That's what he was designed for." Cress said softly.

Everyone turned to stare at her. She flushed with embarrassment at the newfound attention but continued.

"I know about the Lunars' soldiers. I looked them up as soon as I found out they existed. They are always hungry for flesh and blood, and to them, no meat is sweeter than human. They are trained to be vicious hunters and killers. I think this "Wolf' only managed to go this long without incident because he was suppressing his natural instincts, and today he just… stopped suppressing them."

No-one seemed to have any idea what to say to that. The explanation fit perfectly with every time Wolf lost it. But Scarlet still couldn't believe that Wolf was the one behind the murders today, not just because he went whole weeks as far as she knew without killing anyone, but because he wasn't anywhere near the square at the time of the attack. And Scarlet should know, she was with him!

_One hour earlier._

Scarlet walked through the park, enjoying the scent of the grass and flowers that surrounded her. She was headed towards the huge tree in the centre of the park, always a nice spot to relax and have a picnic. At least, she thought so, that's why she nicked some sandwiches from the cafeteria.

A tall figure, their features obscured by shadow, was leaning against the trunk of the tree. They were looking around, as though they were curious of the people walking their dogs and playing games around them.

Scarlet jogged up to them and gave them a quick tap on the shoulder. "Hey, you still on planet Earth?"

Wolf glanced down at the ground and gave it an experimental stomp. "Last I checked."

Scarlet rolled her eyes and dug through the bag she'd brought with her, finally producing a sandwich.

"Here." She said, handing it to Wolf, "Figured you might be hungry."

"Thank you." He replied, and then immediately started gulping it down ravenously.

"You have been eating enough, right?" Scarlet joked.

"Yeah, I just get hungry quickly."

She snorted. "That's putting it mildly."

"Yeah, well," He shrugged, not meeting her eyes, "it can't really be helped since I'm…"

Scarlet's smile faded into a sympathetic frown at this statement. She sat down on the grass, her back leaning against the solid trunk of the tree and looked up at the man towering over her. She patted the patch of grass next to her in invitation. He hesitated for a brief moment, and his muscles remained tense and worried as he settled onto the ground.

"Tell me what they did." Scarlet said gently.

Wolf's index finger began to drum a rapid mantra on his knee and he gulped. "I have a heightened metabolism. It gives me a steady supply of energy, but it also means I'm constantly hungry."

"You know that's not what I meant."

He sighed, and the finger ceased its drumming. "I was twelve when the Lunars took me. All of us were. They weren't fussy, they just needed strong developing boys. I fit the bill perfectly.

"I wasn't awake during the procedures. The Lunars said they kept me asleep for twenty-six days, though it only felt like a few hours. When I woke up, I was… this." He gestured at himself, quickly and vaguely, as though he couldn't bear to think about his own being.

Scarlet placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Wolf turned his head to look at her in surprise, and she smiled at him softly.

He turned away and cleared his throat. "The soldiers are organised into packs." he told her, his voice oddly hoarse, "Each pack has around six to fifteen members, similar to an actual wolf pack. The hierarchy is the same to, with alphas, betas and omegas. Back when I was with them, there were around fifty packs, though there might be more now."

"What were you?"

Wolf tilted his head in confusion. "Sorry?"

"I mean, what was your rank?" Scarlet clarified.

"Oh." He shifted uncomfortably. "I-I was an Alpha."

Scarlet found herself smiling. "Why does that not surprise me?"

Wolf's ears turned red and his finger restarted its fast rhythm on his knee. "My younger brother also ended up joining, about a year into my own training."

"Well at least you had one friendly face there."

"He hates me."

"Oh."

Scarlet bit her lip, trying to think of something to say to disperse the sudden awkwardness.

Wolf coughed. "Do you…"

Scarlet glanced at Wolf, faintly surprised that he was starting a conversation.

"Do you have any siblings?"

**A/N: Stars I love writing Wolflet!**

**Wolf is suspected of the murders in the last chapter, but how can he when he was talking with Scarlet at the time? Who is the real culprit? And when will I make any of the couples official since so far I've only given small hints and Cresswell is pretty much non-existent right now (sorry everyone! I promise, I don't hate Cresswell that's not why they're taking so long to happen!)**

**Please review!**


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Winter**

Winter stared at her feet. She couldn't handle looking her friends in the eye, not after what happened with Cress. Jacin had told her it was alright, Cress hadn't died, Winter wasn't responsible, she had nothing to be guilty for. But she did. She had been too weak and scared to defy Levana, and she'd gone ahead with the assassination. Planned murder, whether the attempt was successful or not, was inexcusable. Cress had told her as much, with blood pouring down her front from an ugly gash in her neck and a blank look in her eyes.

"How long is this going to take?" said the man standing in the centre of the Council Chamber in a bored voice, "These handcuffs are really chafing."

"That all depends on your cooperation." Crown Jewels cool voice replied.

"In that case, this is going to take forever." Cinder whispered in Winter's ear.

Winter tried to muster up a smile, though she doubted it was very convincing.

Kai shrugged. "Maybe not. I'm not detecting and rebellious thoughts right now."

"Wait until the first question." Cinder suggested, "Something will pop up by then."

the Emperor leaned forward on his chair. "Your name is Ze'ev Kesley, correct? Alias, Wolf?"

The man shrugged. "That's who I am."

"And you know why you're here?"

"I killed a bunch of people."

Crime Minister narrowed her eyes at him. "You have an oddly nonchalant view of murder."

Wolf barked with laughter. "You do know what I am right?"

President Star frowned in confusion. "A Lunar?"

"Yes, but that's not the answer I was going for." He grinned, exposing his fangs. Winter hugged herself when she saw that they were covered in gore.

General Thunder, seemingly unaffected by the state of Wolf's teeth, asked impatiently, "Well, what was the answer you were going for?"

"A soldier. The Lunar soldiers are genetically modified to become prodigies. Specifically, their DNA is combined with that of an Arctic wolf's, providing them with heightened strength, speed, stamina and an unstoppable urge to hunt and kill people." Wolf explained, with the cheery tone of a dad telling his kids about a camping trip.

"So that's your reason for murdering seven innocent civilians?" Primal asked with disgusted horror, "You just like killing?"

"I'm instinctively driven to kill." Wolf corrected, "There's a difference."

The blood on his teeth and lips started to drip to the floor, staining the beautiful mosaic tiles. Winter pressed her hand to her mouth to hide her gasp.

"What are the Lunars long term goals?" The Emperor asked.

"Do you honestly expect a soldier to know that?" Wolf chuckled. "Honestly Emperor, I thought you were cleverer than that!"

Winter cringed as a ripple seemed to pass over Wolf's voice, changing its pitch and smoothing out the rumbling growl underlying the words.

"Do the Lunars actually have a strengthening chemical agent?" Crime Minister asked.

Wolf nodded. "Yes, and everything my queen told you about it was true."

"Have you been given this agent?"

"No. I am strong enough already."

"And this agent is perfect in every single way?" The Emperor inquired suspiciously, "There are no downsides?"

"Oh, the process itself is uncomfortable and some weaklings ended up dying." Wolf conceded indifferently, "But other than that yes."

His bulky form shrank and thinned, and his wild brown hair grew longer and darker.

President Star glowered at him. "Do the Lunars really have 2 000 people under their recruitment?"

Wolf nodded smugly. "Plus a couple hundred. But before you get too cocky, I'd just like to point out that we can increase their powers anytime we want."

His skin tone lightened, and the scars faded to nothing.

Abruptly, the Emperor stood up from his seat. "This interrogation is over." He announced, "Ze'ev Kesley will be kept in solitary confinement here at headquarters until a suitable punishment is agreed upon."

Wolf bowed his head. "Thank you for your hospitality."

Crime Minister addressed the guards stationed at the door. "Take him away."

They nodded and smartly marched Wolf out of the room. Wolf grinned at Winter as he passed her. The blood was gone from his teeth, and his frame had regained its muscular bulk. That is, assuming he ever lost it.

The chamber doors slammed behind them, and the Emperor sat down heavily in his seat, groaning quietly.

"Well?" Crown Jewel sharply asked the three Rampions, "Did he lie at all?"

"My programming didn't detect any lies." Cinder said.

"And his thoughts matched what he was saying." Kai added.

The Council turned to Winter, who swallowed back the sudden rush of bile in her mouth. She thought of when she first met Wolf, thought of the nervousness radiating off him in waves at the waiting room and in the stadium. Thought of his annoyance as President Star questioned his abilities. She thought of the flood of ferocity and instinct that rushed through him during the fight with Hunter. And she thought of the shame, the self-loathing and horror that trailed behind him as he fled the stadium. None of that was there today. In its place was arrogance, disdain and condescending amusement. The underlying current of wild viciousness that underlay the entire mix was there, just as it had been at the trials. But at the trials the flow was forcibly restrained, like a dam built in a river. Today, the current was allowed to flow however it pleased.

The Wolf the Council had just questioned wasn't the Wolf that had been at trials. His emotions and personality were all wrong, and it was Winter's duty as a Rampion to tell the Council that.

But it was her duty as a Lunar to lie.

"His emotions completely supported his words and were of a similar composition to the last time I could read him. Ze'ev Kesley fully and wholeheartedly believed what he was saying to you."

Winter forced the words out of her throat, choking out each syllable and tasting their poison as they passed through her lips. Great skies, why did she have to be a Lunar?

**A/N: It's the aftermath of the attack on the square, and Winter isn't taking things well at all. Will she be able to keep up the act for much longer? What will the Council rule as punishment? Why did Winter hallucinate Wolf's appearance changing?**

**Please review!**


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Cress**

For the first time in her life, Cress was happy to be hacking. For once she wasn't looking for information that could cripple the protectors of humanity or looking into known prodigy files so the unfortunate supers could be subjected to letumosis. For once, she was doing something good! And it. Felt. Amazing!

The files on letumosis shone on the screen of her computer. She'd seen them so many times in passing, Cress was willing to bet that she could type them up herself from memory. On another screen were the lists of the powers at the Lunars disposal, and on another was all their weapons and prodigy artefacts in their possession.

Cress leaned back in her chair and sighed in contentment. It felt so good to be working against the Lunars for once.

A sharp knock on her door made her start and her chair swivelled alarmingly. Without waiting for her answer, the visitor pushed open the door and stepped into the room.

It took all of Cress's willpower not to hide behind the backrest of her chair.

Thorne's blue eyes glinted in the light of the room as they looked her up and down. Cheeks flushing, Cress stood in what she hoped was a smooth, graceful movement and smiled at him. "What is it, Captain?"  
Thorne smirked at the use of the nickname. "The team leader wants us all to get together for lunch. You know, seeing as you've only just got here and know absolutely nothing about us."

_I know you once let out a tiger in the zoo because it looked miserable in its enclosure._ Cress thought.

Aloud, she said, "That would be great! When are we going?"

"Now."

"Now?"

Thorne chuckled. "Cress, it's one in the afternoon."

"Already?" Cress breathed. She'd been working for hours!

"Yep. The team's all gathered in the lobby. I think the Crown Prince of Heroism is taking us out. Hopefully he pays for us."

"You probably would if he didn't." Cress breathed without thinking.

Thorne blinked at her, obviously caught off guard with her statement. "Oh yeah, you definitely need this get-together session."

He turned to leave, pausing in the doorway to call over his shoulder, "The short hair. It works."

Cress held her breath as his footsteps receded down the hall. She didn't trust herself not to squeal with joy, though she couldn't stop the broad grin spreading across her face as she closed all her computers.

"So what's the story with the new haircut?" Iko asked Cress.

"Oh, I was just thinking about how easy it was for that soldier to grab me because of how long it was." Cress explained.

"Well it was an excellent choice! No offence, but before your hair was all anyone could really see of you. Now everyone will notice your pretty face!"

Cress beamed at her teammate. No-one had ever complimented her looks before. It was a wonderful feeling! And if it was true, then maybe, just maybe, Thorne will start to take an interest in her…

"Alright everyone!" Kai yelled from a little way ahead, "This is the spot!"

Cress jogged up so she was standing next to Kai and she gasped. She was looking at the most beautiful lake in the world! The water glimmered as though it was full of stars and lay perfectly still and calm, not a ripple on its pristine surface. Tentatively, Cress reached out a finger to poke the water, and her reflected image wobbled and fractured with the tiny waves.

"Cinder and I found this place a few days ago." Kai told them with a grin, "Thought it would be the perfect place for a picnic."

Scarlet grinned at him mischievously. "Cinder and you found it? There was no-one else with you guys? Just the two of you, gazing out over this lake?"

Kai looked away, a pink tinge growing over his cheeks. Cinder, seemingly unaffected, glared at Scarlet. "It wasn't like that!"

"Sure it wasn't." The redhead replied.

"While you guys are being stupid, can the rest of us eat?" Jacin grumbled, "I skipped breakfast this morning, and I'm starving!"

Winter frowned at him disapprovingly. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!"

"Like you never skip it."

Ignoring the ache of her too-full stomach, Cress stuffed the rest of her chocolate bar into her mouth and lay back with a sigh of contentment.

"I told you it was a bad idea to introduce her to chocolate." Jacin told Iko.

Iko rolled her eyes. "What, and leave her to a dull and bleak existence? I'm a superhero, not a villain!"

"I'm with Iko," Scarlet piped up, "let Cress eat chocolate."

"And hope her system can deal with its first encounter of sugar." Cinder smirked.

"I remember my first sugar-high," Thorne said, smiling fondly at the memory, "not a single china ornament in the house was left un-smashed."

Kai's eyes lit up with interest. "You were born with your powers?"

"Yep, to my parents' infinite disappointment." Thorne snorted, "They tried to scare me out of using my powers by planting all these ideas in my head that they were an evil and bad thing that should never be used. So, of course, I used them all the time."

Cinder rolled her eyes. "Why does that not surprise me."

Thorne smirked at her. "And what's your origin story Madame-Metal? I'm willing to bet five bucks that it's pretty epic."

"Since when do you risk losing money?" Kai grinned.

"Hey, if this plays out the way I think it will, I get five bucks!"

Cinder sighed and glanced down at her gloved hands. "Well, you're going to be disappointed. It was a car crash, a bad one. It killed both my parents, and I think it's pretty obvious what it did to me."

"Wait, you got a built-in connection to the internet and a lie detector because of a car crash?" Scarlet asked.

Cinder shrugged. "I don't answer for the scientists that operated on me."

"She does have a point though." Jacin frowned. "This story is a bit questionable."

"What about you?" Kai asked him, "What's your origin story?"

"I spent a lot of time around Winter and I built up a natural immunity to her abilities." Jacin said simply. "It was kind of like building an immunity to an allergy."

"I was born a prodigy," Winter murmured quietly. She set down the hunk of chocolate she was holding, ignoring the curious flies that immediately buzzed over to it. "but I wasn't born an empath.

"My original power was telepathy, but I hated that ability with a passion. It isn't right, to peer unrestrained into a person's innermost thoughts and delve through their secrets, or to make them move in ways and believe in things that they never would if left alone. Maybe if my power was more like Kai's I could of stood it, only listening to passing thoughts and opinions. But I couldn't, so I stopped using it altogether. But the neglect of a power so closely related to the mind doesn't come without its consequences."

Jacin reached for Winter and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Winter, you don't have to do this." His voice was softer than Cress had ever heard it.

Winter smiled at him but continued her story. "I started having visions, horrible visions of monsters and blood followed me everywhere I went. My only consolation was that everyone else was safe from my powers. But even that thought couldn't comfort me for long, as my powers soon remanifested as the thankfully less harmful empathy."

Silence followed the end of Winter's story. After the last couple stories, this sudden onslaught of trauma chased away any words from the listeners throats.

Jacin put a comforting arm around Winter's shoulders and she gratefully leaned into his touch.

Kai cleared his throat awkwardly, breaking the spell and turned to Cress with a forced smile. "What about you Cress? Were you born with your powers?"

"Er, yes." Cress hurriedly answered, "But my parents were anti-prodigy, like Thorne's. When the Lunars came for collection, they handed me off without a second thought."

Scarlet whistled. "And I thought my parents were bad."

"They were anti-prodigy too?" Iko asked.

"Nah, I wasn't born a prodigy anyway so it wouldn't matter if they were."

"Well then, tell us your origin story." The blue-haired girl prompted impatiently.

Scarlet leaned back on her hands and stared up at the sky. "My grand-mère used to be a military pilot, and on my eleventh birthday she gave me her badge as a present. I was so honoured and carried it with me everywhere.

"One day, I was out for a walk and I was holding the badge in my hand. This was near the end of the Blood Moon time, and with vigilante acts of super heroism showing up pretty much every day on the news I felt a lot safer than I should, so I took a shortcut down a pretty shifty neighbourhood. A small gang showed up out of nowhere and immediately started threatening me and demanding that I turn out my pockets. I wasn't about to let them near the badge, so I tried to get away." Scarlet snorted. "Apparently I was making one stupid decision after another that day. They chased after me, now convinced that I had something valuable on me. And elven year old versus a bunch of grown stupid men. Guess who won that race."

"Not you?" Thorne suggested.

"Congratulations, you get a cookie." Scarlet snapped at him. "Anyway, as Thorne so intelligently guessed, they caught up to me and pinned my arms so that I couldn't fight back while they searched my pockets and forced my hands open, breaking a few fingers in the process."

The entire group flinched in pain at this.

"Eventually they managed to get the badge. Of course they were disappointed that it wasn't anything valuable, but they still debated whether or not it would fetch a few coins at a pawn shop. Obviously I wasn't just going to stand by and let them have their way. That badge belonged to my grand-mère! It was as precious to her as it was to me! So, I charged at the punk holding my badge. He wasn't expecting that, let me tell you, and that dumbfounded look on his face is one of the happiest memories of my childhood. The only reason it isn't the happiest is because he then slashed my neck open with the badge I was trying to get."

As she spoke, Scarlet traced a line down her neck, where Cress could vaguely make out a long, thin scar.

"It wasn't deep enough to kill me, but there was still a lot of blood. I was properly scared now. For the first time, dying seemed like a real possibility. But I kept attacking him. So, he kept slashing, drawing cut after cut after cut."

For the first time, Scarlet's voice cracked as her fingers traced more thin pale lines along her neck. Cress brought her knees up to her chest, trying to imagine herself in the shoes of young Scarlet, desperately fighting far tougher and stronger criminals just for the sake of retrieving her possession. Was there anything in Cress's life that she would fight so hard for? Would there ever be?

Scarlet swallowed and tilted her chin up, almost in defiance of her earlier flash of fear. "With each scratch, a new image popped into my mind. Clouds racing past me as I tore through a clear blue sky and miniscule fields and forests seen from above. And I felt an exhilaration, a joy that I'd never know before."

Scarlet grinned and hovered a foot of the ground. "And then I was flying."

Iko whistled, impressed. "Great skies, talk about an origin story!"

"I'm sure yours is almost as cool." Scarlet smirked at her.

"Just as cool I'd like to think. I was born a prodigy you see. I don't know what happened to my parents, if they were prodigy haters or dead or what, but all my earliest memories are from an orphanage. Eventually, a man named Garan Linh adopted me. His wife was a little less-than-enthusiastic about me, same went for his eldest daughter, but the youngest was good to me. And, when he adopted yet another orphaned prodigy, she was nice to her too." Iko grinned at Cinder, who rolled her eyes and shoved the other girl in the shoulder.

Cress's eyes widened. "Wait, you two are sisters?"

Cinder nodded. "By adoption, yeah."

Cress gaped at the two of them. She knew they were close, that much was obvious, but family? That was a whole other level! Maybe she should have researched her fellow teammates more thoroughly.

Thorne turned to smirk at Kai. "Alright Team Leader, we've all spilled our origin stories, now it's your turn. Fess up."

Kai grinned. "Trust me, it's nothing special. I was born with my powers, so I haven't got any stories about hallucinations or fighting gangs, and my life's story isn't half as interesting as yours or Cress's."

"Not an excuse. Come on, spill."

"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you." Kai chuckled. "At first, I didn't even know I was a prodigy. I just assumed everybody heard voices in their head when no-one was speaking."

Cinder raised a teasing eyebrow at him. "Are you sure you're alright?"  
"Ha ha. Anyway, I eventually figured out that I was hearing other people's thoughts, but all this discovery did was make me annoyed when people didn't reply to me when I tried to think conversations with them. I only found out I was an actual prodigy when I told President Star that I didn't like the present he got me for my birthday a week before my actual birthday." He chuckled. "It was quite funny, watching everyone freak out once they realised I could read their minds. My parents spent hours and hours telling me to stay out of people's heads and give them their privacy."

"And you actually did?" Thorne rolled his eyes. "Hopeless."

Cress giggled. This lunch had turned out even better than she'd hoped!

**A/N: Origin stories! I know some of them are longer than others (*cough* Scarlet and Winter *cough*) but they have the most detailed origin stories that can be revealed at this moment. You guys obviously already knew Cinder's origin story and had a good idea of Cress's. The other origin stories will be added to for more depth over the course of the rest of this fic, so bear with me until then.**

**Please review!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Kai**

"Has the prisoner revealed any new information?" Kai asked.

His father shook his head. "He seems determined that the only facts we'll get out of him about the Lunars are the ones he's already told us. But that's not a huge loss now that we have 1-0. She's given us more info on the enemy than that soldier ever could."

Kai scowled at the floor, still feeling unsatisfied. At the trials, Kai had feared Wolf, but also pitied him. He could hear the instinctual commands running through the prodigy's conscious, and the horrified thoughts that took their place. He'd thought that, despite almost killing Hunter, Wolf might not be so bad. Just shows how much he knew.

At the questioning, Kai wasn't sure what he was expecting. Regret? Begging? Remorse? Anything but the smug pride that shadowed Wolf's mind. Anything but the triumphant thoughts of how well he'd fooled that Rampions at the trials. _They honestly thought I wanted to join them? Ha! That other prodigy would've made a good meal. Shame I couldn't finish him. I wonder if some of those heroes actually bought my whole fleeing in shame act. Surely they couldn't be _that_ stupid!_

Ugh, Kai really hated that prodigy.

He looked back at his father. "Have you decided on a suitable punishment yet?"

The Emperor shrugged. "Yes and no. We've formulated something that I believe will not only serve as a punishment for Wolf, but also turn the tides against the Lunars. However, given the fact that the prisoner's prodigy status wasn't obtained in the typical way, we're not sure if it will work or not."

"What will happen if it does work?"

His father smiled apologetically. "Sorry son, that's classified, even for you."

Kai huffed in disappointment. Maybe he could read his father's mind, just discreetly to find out what the punishment was. After all, it should be at the forefront of his thoughts given that they were talking about it… ah, who was he kidding? No way in the skies would his father not be expecting a stunt like that. Still, the thought was tempting. So, very tempting…

Seeing his dismay, the Emperor reached out and gently squeezed Kai's shoulder (which for a normal person is rather firm). "Relax, you'll find out soon. Next week in fact, once we're sure it has been perfected. Until then, you'll just have to be patient."

Kai nodded his head sharply in reply. He didn't trust his own voice not to betray his frustration.

As he left his father's office, Kai checked his watch. Half past twelve. His team would be in the cafeteria, stocking up on food to last them the rest of the day. He wasn't particularly hungry, but maybe a talk with some friends would take his mind off his irritation. Or at least redirect it at Thorne.

He called up an elevator and stepped inside. He leaned against the wall and gazed out of the transparent glass wall. Floors bustling with staff and superheroes alike blurred past. Kai wondered how many of them were in on the "classified" secret. Maybe the scientists down at R&D? His father had definitely implied that the punishment was very experimental. What sucked about that was the scientists were very good at keeping their mouths shut, and had been trained at a length to protect them from mind-readers like Kai. Not that he'd want to go listening to Dr Erland's thoughts anytime soon. He doubted he'd ever recover from the flood of cynicism. So who else could know? The Council, obviously, but Kai would have to be the biggest moron in history to actually believe they wouldn't be prepared for him to question them. They knew all about his abilities, and all about how to defend themselves from them. He didn't think any of the other team leaders would know either, and definitely not the normal-class Rampions. So who else could possibly know?

He was so deep in thought that he didn't notice the tan fingers in front of his face until they snapped, jarring him and jumbling all of his thoughts into a big confused mess.

"Are you okay? You look like your brain wandered out of your skull."

It took a moment for Kai to recognise the voice. Embarrassed, he offered his teammate a sheepish grin. "Sorry, just lost in thought."

Cinder folded her arms and raised an eyebrow at him. ""Lost" is an understatement. Scarlet is the one who's supposed to have her head in the clouds, remember?"

Kai smirked. "The sky's a big place. Surely there's room for two heads?"

"Not when one of them isn't paying attention. What if you get hit be a passing airplane?"

"I could wear a vest of warning lights?"

"All they'll see is a flock of magpies."

He barked with laughter and felt his earlier annoyance blow away. It felt good to have a normal conversation that wasn't about a mysterious impending punishment.

"Are you going down for lunch?" Kai asked.

Cinder shook her head. "I have another check-up. After my fainting spell the other day, the scientists have been even more overprotective."

"Well this is the first time they've designed whole new limbs for a person. It's reasonable that they're worried about the job they did."

"But I've had these things for weeks with no issue!"

"Except for that time you fainted."

"That was because of something I already had built in, so it doesn't count."

The elevator slowed to a halt and, with a cheerful ding, the doors opened. A prodigy with an extra pair of arms and two heads walked in. They were having a quiet, furious argument as the prodigy walked in. Unfortunately, that also meant they don't notice the other two people in the elevator.

In an effort to avoid the arms that were currently making angry and exaggerated gestures, Kai awkwardly inched closer to the far corner. Instead of feeling the hard press of glass when he reached it, he felt a stiff shoulder bump into his and the brush of hair against his cheek.

Heat rushed up to Kai's face and he muttered. "Well. This is awkward."

"You think?" Cinder replied, her voice tense.

Struggling to put some space between him and his teammate, Kai shifted around. And found himself face to face with her.

Somehow, his cheeks found room for more heat. Cinder, somehow, wasn't blushing but her eyes were wide and darting in every direction, looking everywhere but at him.

"Sorry." Kai mumbled. This couldn't possibly get any more awkward.

One of the other prodigies four hands abruptly smacked Kai on the back of the head. He yelped as his head tilted forward from the impact. He felt the bump of Cinder's forehead against his and the brush of her nose. Now, her eyes had no choice but to meet his.

Kai bit back a groan. It just got more awkward.

He opened his mouth to stammer out another apology, or to tell the newcomer that he was taking up all of the space, he hadn't decided yet. Whatever words he was building, they were cut off by Cinder's pained shriek.

He instinctively reached out to catch her as her knees suddenly buckled. She shook uncontrollably in his arms, panting and gasping for air.

Kai tilted her face up to look at him. "Cinder? What's-"

His throat closed up. The face he was looking at, the face that was looking back at him, it was Cinder, but at the same time nothing like Cinder. Her hair, usually filthy and messy, was suddenly sleek and shiny, perfectly framing her face. Her skin was smooth and perfect, her eyes slanted as though her mouth was curled in a smile instead of a pained grimace. Her titanium hand was now human, not just human but flawless.

She was beautiful, the most beautiful creature to ever walk the Earth. And she was terrifying.

**A/N: Anyone else getting déjà vu?**

**So much awkward, and also so many questions. What is the punishment the Council decided on for Wolf? And what happened to Cinder?**

**Please review!**


	27. Chapter 27

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Cinder**

Cinder lay completely still on the bed. Or was it a table? She couldn't tell. Every muscle in her body ached. Her eyelids seemed to weigh a ton.

A soft moan escaped her lips as she slowly forced them open, ignoring the pain in her eyes as the light of the room stung them. With another quiet groan, she sat up, gripping the edges of whatever she was lying on to keep her balance.

Cinder glanced around the room, taking in the white walls and the various medical machinery scattered around the room. Slowly, her groggy thoughts managed to work out that she was in one of the science labs. But when did she get here? She remembered getting into the elevator and feeling annoyed at having another appointment to attend, and she remember teasing Kai about him staring into space. Then… right, there was that other prodigy, the one with the extra head and arms who was too wrapped up in arguing with himself to notice the other two people in the elevator. Okay, then what happened? Oh right. Getting trapped in the corner with Kai. A situation which got more awkward by the minute since, for some reason Cinder couldn't understand, he kept shuffling around so that he was facing her. So many warnings about sudden rises in body-heat and increases in heart rate. She scowled, trying to recall what else happened in the elevator, but all that came to mind was searing pain and then… darkness. Maybe her systems overheated?

A sudden sigh of exasperation snapped her attention to the far end of the room. Two people were standing there, having a particularly furious whispered argument. Kai and Dr Erland.

Curious, Cinder turned up her audio interface to listen in.

"-anything you can do?" Kai was saying.

"I already told you, I'll give her cybernetics a look over to see if anything is overheating." Dr Erland replied irately.

"Anything more immediate?"

Dr Erland shook his head. "Personally, I think the fact that she fainted is far less worrying than the circumstances in which she fainted."

Wait, did Kai tell him about the fact they were crushed into one corner? Great powers, he'd better not have!

"This… "vision" as you call it seems entirely out of place in an elevator where the only prodigy present who has any power relating to the mind isn't able to manipulate the mind or senses in any way." Dr Erland muttered.

Wait, Kai had a vision?

He sighed. "Look, I've been stretched a bit think lately, I'm sure my brain just decided to have a bit of fun."

"If that were the case, I doubt you'd be talking to me as sensibly as you are." Dr Erland grumbled. "In any case, I'd better see how my patient is doing."

Hurriedly, Cinder snapped her eyes shut and pretended to sleep. Somehow, she doubted Dr Erland and Kai would appreciate her eavesdropping on them.

A finger prodded her sharply in the cheek. "Come on, get up." Came Dr Erland's irritable voice. It sounded as if he was shouting into her ears.

Wincing at the extreme volume, she quickly turned down her audio interface to a more reasonable level and opened her eyes for the second time.

Dr Erland, seeing that she was awake, nodded with satisfaction and turned smartly away from her bed, heading for his desk.

Grunting with the effort, Cinder pushed herself up into a sitting position.

"How do you feel?" Kai asked, walking over to her side.

She rolled out the kinks in her shoulders. "A bit achy, but otherwise fully operational."

He grinned. "That sounds promising."  
"You call your limbs feeling like they're made of stone promising?"  
"Well, they may not be made of stone, but they are made of titanium."  
Cinder rolled her eyes. "Titanium's light, genius."

"Hey, we can't all be mechanics!"

She chuckled and stretched her arms above her head, revelling in her reach. "How long was I out?"

"Not too long, about half an hour."  
"Now that is promising. Hopefully this will be the last time I faint. I'm really getting sick of waking up in the science labs."

"I don't blame you. Dr Erland is hardly the best company."

"I heard that!" Dr Erland barked from his post near his desk. He seemed to be making a note of something. "Honestly Diplomat, don't you have a team meeting to organise? The Mechanic's fine, you can go!"

Kai rolled his copper brown eyes and threw a quick wink at Cinder before leaving the room. She stared after him. What was that about?

Dr Erland strode over to her bed, a notepad and pen in his hands. "Right. Now, tell me what happened."

Cinder shifted uncomfortably, trying to figure out what to say. And how much she could get away with leaving out. "I guess I just got really stressed. I was receiving a lot of warnings about body temperature and heart rate at the time."

"That's all that happened?" Dr Erland asked.

Cinder nodded. What he doesn't know won't hurt him.

Dr Erland glanced at his notepad. "You didn't experience any tingling in your skin? Or a sudden surge of power?"

She frowned. "No, but what does any of that have to do with my fainting?"

The doctor bit his lip. For the first time since Cinder had met him, he seemed uncomfortable. "When you collapsed, The Diplomat experience a sudden… shifting of perception."

Cinder tilted her head and blinked in what she hoped was an innocent manner. _He's talking about Kai's vision._

"The way he described it, your appearance underwent a drastic change."

"What kind of change?" she asked.

Dr Erland adjusted his glasses. "In simple terms, you looked a lot more beautiful and all traces of your prosthesis were removed."

Cinder raised an eyebrow. Kai's vision was starting to sound more like wishful thinking. "Okay, but what does that have to do with my fainting?"

"It has everything to do with your fainting." Dr Erland replied. "Remember that device that I theorised suppressed your natural prodigy power?"

"Kind of hard to forget something like that."  
"Yes, well, I believe that this "vision" of Kai's was actually your powers making themselves known, and the cause of the fainting was the device malfunctioning." 

Dr Erland said all this like he was telling Cinder that they were celebrating her birthday early. Cinder, for her part, was slightly underwhelmed. "So my superpower is the ability to make myself look pretty? Wow, that will totally make a difference to the world."

Dr Erland rolled his eyes. "It's not the ability to make yourself look pretty."  
"Oh, can I make other people look pretty too?"

He sighed in frustration. "Mechanic, the fact that you can make yourself look pretty is just one thing your powers can do."  
"Feel free to enlighten me." Cinder grumbled.

"As well as becoming more beautiful, Kai also mentioned that you suddenly became terrifying. His words not mine."  
"Why did you bother with that last part?"  
"I don't want to end up on the wrong end of the metal fist. Anyway, this effect is typical of the uncontrolled use of a certain type of mind control."

"Wait, wait, wait." Cinder interrupted. "You're saying my power is mind control?"

"A certain kind of mind control." Dr Erland corrected.

"What difference does that make? And do you have any idea how the Council will react when they find out I can control minds? That's their greatest enemy's power! What if they think I'm connected with her somehow?"

"Oh you are definitely connected with her." Dr Erland said. "Your brand of mind control is exactly the same as hers."

Cinder couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had the same power as the leader of the Lunars? "Wha-how can you possibly know that?"

"During the Blood Moon Time, the Lunars were led by Channary Blackburn, also known as Star Striker. She also had mind control powers. We know that Levana was her sister, so it can't be a coincidence that she has the same powers as Channary, it must be hereditary." Dr Erland explained.

"What's that got to do with my powers?"  
"A little patience please? Ugh, teenagers. Anyway, Channary Blackburn was rather… promiscuous. We know she had at least one child, and we know it was a daughter, since the Lunars were very loud about it. When you accidentally used your powers, Kai said your eyes were slanted, like you were smiling, even though you weren't. This particular feature was something of Channary's trademark and, well." He tilted his head to one side, studying her face. "You do look a bit like her."

Cinder's jaw dropped. Her thoughts ground to a sudden halt at what Dr Erland was implying. No, no she can't be related to Starstriker, to Levana! She was just Cinder, she was the Mechanic, a cyborg who liked to wear t-shirts and baggy pants and always had grease on her clothes. And she wasn't Startsriker's daughter. She just wasn't! She couldn't be…

**A/N: There it is, the moment where Cinder finally finds out who she is. And is in serious denial over it.**

**Finally Cinder's true backstory is revealed. But will she learn to accept it? Will she ever learn to control her new powers? And what will Kai think of her if he finds out?**

**Please review!**


	28. Chapter 28

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Thorne**

Thorne lay on his dorm bed, staring idly at the ceiling. He heaved a sigh of boredom. He'd always thought that superheroes had their days packed full to the brim with beating up bad guys and helping old ladies across the street and whatever other good and honourable things they did. Now that he was one however, he discovered that there really wasn't that much to do, unless you wanted to train day-in day-out, which Thorne didn't. Seriously, what could he do to train? Run laps? He could probably run around the entire perimeter of the city twice in less than a minute without breaking a sweat.

A tentative knock on his door caused him to grin. Finally, something was happening!

In half a second he was opening the door and looking down at the short (and a bit startled) blonde on the other side.

"Hey Cress." He said, "What brings you here?"

She blushed slightly and fiddled with a strand of hair. "We've been called to a meeting in the Training Hall by the Council."  
"Is it compulsory?"

"Yes."

Thorne made a sour face. Listening to the Council preach about their greatness was hardly his idea of fun, but he supposed it was better than just staring at his ceiling all day.

He shrugged and stepped through the doorway, closing the door behind him. "Alright then, let's get going."

Thorne kept his pace slow so that Cress could keep up. Even so, he couldn't help but notice that she seemed to be struggling a little.

"You doing okay?" He asked.

Cress nodded, but he slowed down further anyway.

"So…" Thorne smirked at her. "how does it feel to be a hero?"

Cress smiled at him nervously. "You don't need me to tell you how it feels. You are more heroic than I am."

He barked with laughter. "I seriously doubt that."

"You shouldn't."

"No, I really should." He insisted, "I'm as far from a hero as you can get."

Cress shook her head. "No, I know that you're a hero!"  
"I think you're thinking of a different Carswell Thorne."

Cress fixed him with a determined stare. "When you were four, you released a rare Sumatran tiger from the zoo because you hated the sight of seeing the poor animal trapped in a cage."

Thorne stopped dead in his tracks and stared at her in surprise. "How did you find out about that?"

"I-I researched your background when I found you in the Rampion prisoner records." She admitted, her cheeks turning a delicate shade of embarrassed pink. "But that's not the point! The point is, you released a poor, sad creature because you felt sorry for it!"

The sight of Cress's wide, admiring blue eyes gazing up at him was enough to make him wince at what he was about to say. Why did he have to be the one to burst her bubble?

"I only told the zoo guards that so I wouldn't get in trouble." He told her, "Really, I wanted a cat and thought it would make all the other kids jealous if that cat was a tiger."

Cress blinked at him, obviously taken aback by this revelation. "Oh. Well, what about that time you sold your mother's necklace to donate money for your favourite charity? You were a hero then!"

"I just told that to the authorities because I thought they'd let me off easy. Really I was going to use the money to buy myself a lifetime's supply of videogames." Thorne chuckled. "Man, I used to love video games so much."

"You stole your mother's necklace…" Cress whispered incredulously, "for videogames?"

He shot her an apologetic glance. "Like I said Cress, I'm no hero."

"No… no, I know that's not true!"  
"Cress, you know why I did that supposedly heroic stuff now. I can assure you, I've never done anything in my life that was not motivated for selfish reasons."

"What about Kate Fallow?"

Thorne tilted his head and frowned at her in confusion. "Who?"

"In high school, some other boys stole her laptop and you were trying to return it." Cress told him.

Thorne screwed up his face as he tried to remember. He did have some recollection of getting punched in the face over some girl's laptop. And he thought he might have had a bit of a crush on Kate. Yeah, he remembered now. She was really good at Math, and… he was failing. His parents had threatened to keep him in all summer studying if his grades didn't improve. She let him copy her homework for the rest of the year because of that episode with her laptop.

Thorne opened his mouth to tell Cress that even this supposed heroic act was nothing more than a selfish scheme to raise his Math grade, but the sight of her looking up at him, in admiration of the good person she thought he was, made him falter. All his life he'd been told that he would amount to nothing, that he would be little more than a simple criminal. He would never become anything greater than a thief. But now… here was someone who thought differently. Someone who saw him as selfless and good. The thought of that glow of awe in those big, blue eyes snuffed out by disappointment and disgust… Thorne didn't think he could stand it.

So, instead of confessing the real reason behind the rescue of Kate Fallow, Thorne said, "Right, Kate Fallow! Yeah, I think I was crushing on her at the time."

The smile that lit up Cress's face wiped away any regrets Thorne might have felt about the lie.

She skipped ahead, calling over he shoulder, "Come on! We don't want to be late for the meeting!"

"I have super speed Cress, I could be on the other side of the city and not be late!" Thorne laughed, but he jogged up to her side anyway.

_I may not be the person you think I am right now Cress, _he thought, _but I will be. I promise, someday I'll be someone who deserves your admiration._

**A/N: At last! At last we have some Cresswell! I know I've made you guys wait way too long, but finally this couple is getting some traction!**

**Please review!**


	29. Chapter 29

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Jacin**

Jacin scowled at the makeshift stage at the front of the training hall. Other than a podium, it was completely empty, a fact that annoyed him to no end. Seriously, when was this meeting going to start? He didn't have all day!

The door creaked quietly and Jacin looked back at the newcomers. Maybe the Council was finally here? Skies, they'd better be! He'd been waiting here for ten minutes!

He couldn't suppress a groan in disappointment when he saw who they were.

Thorne sauntered over to his team, Cress awkwardly following, and claimed the seat that was (unfortunately) next to Jacin.

"What took you so long?" He hissed.

Thorne waved him off. "Oh, don't be such a drama queen, it's not like the meeting has started."

"You literally have super speed. You should be one of the first people here!"

"You are severely overestimating my dedication to this organisation."

"That's strange seeing as this organisation is the reason you're not rotting in a jail cell somewhere."

"Hey, would you look at that!" Kai suddenly said in an overly cheerful voice, "The Council's arrived!"

Jacin looked up. Sure enough, there were the worlds' most iconic figures, taking their places on the stage. About time!

The Emperor stepped up to the podium and gripped it with both hands. The hall echoed with the sound of splintering wood.

"Fellow superheroes," the Emperor began, "thank you all for coming. I hope that this announcement will not disrupt your daily duties too much."

"Me too." Jacin muttered under his breath. Beside him, Winter elbowed him sharply in the ribs.

"You all know that we have a member of the Lunars in custody, and the Council and I can now announce that we've decided on a suitable punishment for his actions."

Jacin raised an eyebrow. So this meeting was about the Lunars? Maybe this wouldn't be a big waste of time.

"In fact, we are pleased to announce that this punishment can not only be used for further criminal cases but may play a key role as a weapon in the fight against the Lunars."

Okay, definitely not a big waste of time.

"This weapon has already been successfully carried out on many of the prisoners currently held in Placen. With correct usage, the Council believes that it can destroy prodigy crime for good."

Jacin started to tap his foot impatiently. Yes, yes, the Rampions are amazing, now just tell us what the weapon is!

"After its unveiling in the next few days, all teams will receive training for how to use this new weapon, as well as what circumstances will be considered necessary for its use."

The Emperor dipped his head at the crowd of prodigies before him. "The Council thanks you for your attention."

Wait, that's it? After all that praise for whatever this was, they weren't even going to tell them what it actually is? Are they serious?

As the Council moved to leave the stage, Jacin had to accept the fact that they were, no matter how irritated it made him feel.

Evidently, he wasn't the only one annoyed about not actually being told what the new weapon was, as the hall soon filled with cries of outrage and frustration. A discordant chorus of demands to know more were shouted by so many different people that it was impossible to make out the individual words.

General Thunder raised his hands and lighting crackled from his palms, booming over the heads of the army of discontent prodigies. Reluctantly, they all fell silent.

"We understand that you want to know more," General Thunder yelled out at the crowd, "but all information regarding the weapon is classified until the unveiling. We can't risk any information getting out, lest our enemies discover what we're working on."

"You think we're going to go blab to the Lunars about this?" Scarlet's enraged voice replied. Murmurs of agreement followed her statement.

"Not on purpose," the Emperor told her, "but we don't know the nature of the powers of the Lunars' prodigies. They might have mind readers for instance, and if the Blood Moon time is anything to go by, their methods of interrogation are… well, let's just say it'll be hard for you to keep any secrets."

Jacin flinched. The Council had a point there. He'd seen people forced to gouge out their own eyes, press hot pokers into their skin, cut off their fingers, the works. It didn't matter if you were a small toddler or a ninety-year-old man, if the Lunar's thought you had a secret, they would make you spill.

"Well, that was a waste of time." Iko declared once they were safely out of the training hall.

"Hey, the Council revealed as much as they could! Aren't you glad to know that we might actually stand a chance against the Lunars now?" Kai asked. "I know that you've been worried about that."  
"Don't read my mind!"

"Personally, I don't think they should have revealed they even have a weapon." Cinder said, "If the Lunars even find out that much, they'd probably storm headquarters trying to find it."

Scarlet raised an eyebrow at her. "Find what? No-one but the Council and maybe some of the scientists actually have any indication as to what it is, and it's not like they're going to keep it on a shelf labelled: "Secret Weapon"."

"And without Cress, they're going to have an even harder time trying to figure out what it is." Thorne put in.

Cress's cheeks grew pink and she fiddled nervously with a lock of hair. "Well, I wasn't the only hacker the Lunar's had."

Thorne smirked at her. "But you were definitely the best."

Cinder sighed. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but Thorne's right. As far as I know, you're the most powerful cyberpath in the world, and the only one who'd actually stand a chance at getting through the Rampion's super security. And Scarlet does have a point that unless they interrogate the Council themselves the Lunars won't actually know what to look for. For now at least, the secret's safe."

"You guys are all just assuming that the weapon will be able to destroy the Lunars." Jacin muttered, "These are the same people with the skies know how many prodigies at their disposal and a way of making them all much stronger."

"You think the Council's just being optimistic?" Iko asked.

"I think they're being desperate. They've only got about three weeks left until the Lunars' deadline. They need a way out, and fast."

The group fell into a worried silence as Jacin's statement sunk in. He could imagine the cogs turning in their heads as they finally realised just how dire the situation was becoming. All of them were old enough to remember what life was like in the Blood Moon Time, how it felt to be constantly afraid for your life, for your father's life, your mother's life, your siblings' lives. Every time you walked out of your home you wondered if you would cross back through that door. Every time you came across some food you would wonder if you would ever eat it. If the Lunars won this next war, all of that would start again.

Suddenly a pair of hands gripped Jacin's arm. Winter smiled up at him, looking unnaturally bright and cheery in the recent gloom that had settled on the group. "Jacin? I need to talk to you for a second."

"Okay…" Jacin agreed warily.

"Great! Meet me outside headquarters."

**A/N: I'm still leaving you wondering what the Council's surprise weapon is! Trust me though, you're going to find out what it is really soon. Just sit tight!**

**Please review!**


	30. Chapter 30

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Jacin**

Jacin cocked his head to one side. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

Winter fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. Before they had gone outside, Jacin had insisted that they change out of their uniforms. He hated all the stares they attracted outside of Rampion headquarters, especially when the stares were aimed at Winter. True, she drew her fair share of dumbfounded looks with just her face, but the uniform held their attentions and made them stare at her for minutes at a time.

Honestly, they were just glorified soldiers. That wasn't an invitation to have people gawk at them.

Winter gulped. "I-I want to tell the others."

"Tell the others what?" Jacin asked, though he had a sinking feeling that he already knew. _Please let me be wrong, please let me be wrong._

"That we're Lunars."

He wasn't wrong.

Jacin rubbed his temples. "Winter, you know as well as I do that that's a terrible idea."

"It is a worse idea to continue to spy for Levana."

"If we keep spying for Levana, we might have a chance of keeping our lives!"

"At the cost of how many others? The last thing this city needs is more blood!"

Jacin sighed and placed his hands on Winter's shoulders. "Winter, listen to me. I know you don't like what the Lunars are doing, but they'll kill you if they know you've even been thinking about betraying them, assuming Levana doesn't force you to kill yourself."

"I know the consequences Jacin." Winter murmured, "I know how dangerous this is. But following her orders almost ended in Cress-friend's death, and it did end in the deaths of seven innocent people. I see them, lying in the darkness with blood spilling from their throats and their necks bent in strange ways. They're staring at me, they blame me for their deaths, I can see it in their eyes!"

"Winter, those deaths weren't your fault." Jacin told her softly. "Levana gave the order, not you. You were shoved into it against your will."

"But I let them die. I let them die, and they know it." Winter whispered, her voice cracking.

"You had no choice. It was their lives or yours."

Winter shook her head, her golden-brown eyes shining with tears. "No. It was their lives or yours."

Jacin blinked at her, wondering if he misheard. "Their lives… or mine?"

Winter nodded miserably.

"Winter, what are you talking about? How was my life in danger?"

"L-Levana wasn't pleased with my work." Winter stammered, "I wasn't giving her enough information. She told me that-that if I didn't work harder as a spy, someone would suffer. You know who the someone was."

Jacin did know. And it filled him with a rage he doubted even his powers could truly cover up. Of course, _of course _Levana would use him to get to Winter! The psycho witch would do anything to harm her stepdaughter's psyche even more! It's not enough that the girl sees bleeding walls and corpses crying out to her all the time. Nooooo, no punishment is good enough for the girl who dared to be born prettier than the queen of the Lunars! Winter had been so excited to see the outside world, but Jacin was starting to think this newfound "freedom" was even worse than her prison in the Lunar base. There, at least, Levana wasn't actively driving Winter further over the edge of insanity.

"Now do you see?" Winter whispered, tears pooling in her golden-brown eyes. "If we continue to work with the Lunars, Levana can have you killed at any time. If we left, became proper Rampions, then they'll be able to protect you. You'll be safe."

"But you won't be." Jacin replied softly. "Levana will just use you leaving as an excuse to finally get rid of you."

"She won't. My father made her promise to take care of me."

"And how well has she kept that promise? Don't you get it? This is what Levana wants. She's been looking for a reason to get rid of you ever since she realised you're prettier than her. Now, you're just going to hand it to her on a silver platter!"

"To get to me though, she will have to get through the other Rampions."

Jacin sighed. "Winter, you're just assuming that they'll still want to have us on once you tell them. The Lunars are the Rampions' biggest enemies. Once they find out that we've been spying for them, they'll kick us to the curb."

"No they won't." Winter smiled, "Our friends will protect us."

"You're seriously willing to put our fate in the hands of the son of the leader of the Council, a fashion-obsessed metal girl, a half-robot who's been here for about as long as we have, a angry French redhead, a criminal and a girl who's been abused by the Lunars for pretty much her whole life?"

"They will protect us." Winter said firmly.

"Did you even listen to a word I just said?"

"Yes, and they are all our friends. They will protect us."

Jacin stared at his best friend, the girl he dedicated his life to protecting, as she stubbornly continued to insist that they basically commit suicide. Although, they were both pretty much doomed anyway. Levana would still somehow find some reason to justify killing Winter, and probably end up killing him in the process. This plan, idiotic as it was, would just end up speeding up the process. And who knows, maybe Winter's whimsical view of the world would actually be correct and her idea, ludicrously hopeful as it was, might work.

He saw Winter's triumphant smile even before his shoulders slumped in defeat. "Can you at least wait until after the Rampions unveil their new weapon? When they find out what we are, it's pretty much a given that they'll use it on us."

Winter nodded, eyes glimmering with relief. "Yes, yes, just so long as we tell them."

**A/N: This chapter was mostly filler, but next week I promise that we'll have something more interesting: the unveiling of the Rampions' new weapon!**

**Please review!**


	31. Chapter 31

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Wolf**

It was probably a bad idea to follow the giant crowd of people, especially when it became clear that they were heading for the Rampion headquarters, but Wolf had been feeling a little overconfident as of late.

For one thing, he didn't think the Rampions were interested in finding him anymore. He hadn't seen a warning on the TV or even the newspapers for the past week. He still didn't dare try public transport, but he'd stopped worrying so much about being recognised every time someone shot him a passing glance. And then there was Scarlet. It had been nice, meeting up with her every now and then and talking. Sometimes about the Lunars, but mostly it had been just plain normal conversation. Normal conversation… now that was something Wolf thought he'd never get to experience again.

At their little meetings, Wolf found himself smiling and laughing more than he had in years. Scarlet just had a way of making him forget about what he was, if only for a moment. She teased and joked with him as easily as if he was one of her Rampion teammates. She smiled at him, she talked about her life back in France and her grandmother, how she got her powers… it almost felt like they were friends. Almost, being the operative word.

No amount of meetings and conversations would ever change the fact that Scarlet was a Rampion, a hero. She was brave and confident and kind and always prepared to beat the living daylights out of anyone who was stupid enough to treat her, or anyone else for that matter, wrong. Scarlet was perfect. And Wolf was… Wolf. A freakish abomination of science that probably shouldn't even call himself a prodigy. He'd killed people in fits of fury and wild rage, ripping out their throats with his teeth and snapping their necks with his bare hands. He was a monster, a vicious creature that shouldn't even exist if nature had its way. It was beyond stupid to even hope for someone like Scarlet to like him. But every time she smiled at him, or laughed at some stupid thing he said, of murmured kind words to him… he couldn't help but hope that maybe, just maybe, they could be friends. Sometimes, he even dared to dream that they could be even more.

Suddenly, the person walking in front of Wolf stopped, forcing Wolf to stumble to a halt to avoid crashing into them. Scowling with annoyance at the back of the person's head, he looked up to try and find what made them stop.

He didn't have to look very hard.

In front of the curiously shifting crowd of people he'd been following, there was a large stage draped with dark blue silk. In the centre of the stage stood a microphone and a sinister looking steel chair with leather straps along the armrests and where the person's legs would go, and holding the microphone was a familiar figure with muscles bigger than Wolf's own. The Emperor.

The renown superhero tapped the microphone, and it rocked violently on the stage. Instantly, a hush fell over the crowd as they gazed up with adoring and curious eyes at him.

"People of New Beijing," The Emperor said, "thank you all for gathering here today. The reason for this impromptu summoning, is a truly exciting development in stopping prodigy crime once and for all."

Wolf arched a sceptical eyebrow. That statement seemed horribly optimistic to him.

"The Rampions have been developing a weapon of sorts. One that we shall demonstrate to you today, on one of our more dangerous prisoners. Please bring him forward."

A burly Rampion roughly pushed the prisoner onto the stage. He stumbled to his knees with a short grunt before raising his head and smirking at The Emperor. "My, my, you really are pulling out all the stops for this punishment, aren't you? An audience and a new weapon! How exciting!"

The audience muttered darkly, shooting fearful looks at the prisoner. Wolf could only stare at what was, at least on the outside… himself.

The prisoner's brown hair stuck up just like Wolf's did, his vivid green eyes exactly the same shade. He had the same olive toned skin, and when he grinned Wolf saw the glint of sharp teeth. He had the same large frame and well-developed muscles, and even the wolf-tattoo on his left arm was the same as Wolf's! By the skies, he even had the exact same scars! There was the one on his forehead, the small scar on his lip, and the long scar on his right arm that stretched from wrist to elbow.

Desperately, Wolf studied the prisoner, searching for any differences between them. But all he could find was his expression and body language, which Wolf wasn't sure counted, even if they were totally different.

Wolf number 2's grin had a malicious curve to it, and he held himself with an arrogance that Wolf had never possessed in his life, even after he became Alpha of his pack. He held a haughty light in his gaze as he looked at The Emperor, blinking slowly and lazily, as though he couldn't be bothered to take this punishment seriously.

The Emperor glared right back. "This prisoner you see before you has been charged with the murder of seven innocent civilians in the square."

"Hey, I have to eat, don't I?" The other Wolf said unabashedly.

Wolf felt a shiver of disgust run down his spine.

Evidently, The Emperor felt the same way, because he shot a look at the Rampion that brought the other Wolf onto the stage. "Strap him in."

The Rampion obliged and shoved the other Wolf into the chair. He started fastening his arms and legs in while the prisoner laughed. "This isn't very hospitable Emperor! Don't you know basic etiquette? You could have at least offered me a drink!"

Ignoring him, The Emperor waved his hand and a small old man in a lab coat made his way up to the stage. He was holding a syringe in his hand, filled with some sort of clear liquid.

Wolf took and involuntary step back, eying the thin needle tip of the syringe nervously. Countless nightmares of identical needles burrowing into his skin flashed across his mind and he shuddered.

The burly Rampion held other Wolf's head in place while the old man inserted the tip of the needle into his neck. Silence hovered over the crowd as he pressed the plunger, injecting whatever was inside the syringe into the prisoner's neck.

"Poison? Is that your legendary new weapon Emperor?" The prisoner said disappointedly.

The Emperor's mouth quirked into a half-smile. "Not exactly."

The prisoner opened his mouth, probably to deliver some other insult, but paused. He frowned and shifted his shoulders uncomfortably and stretched out his neck. "What did you do?" he asked, and for the first time his voice carried a hint of fear. "What did you _do?_"

Was it just Wolf, or did the prisoner's voice sound a bit more high-pitched then?

A ripple of shock spread across the crowd as the prisoner's muscles rapidly deflated, and his frame shrank. His olive skin lightened to honey, and his brown hair grew long, sleek and dark. His jawline grew softer and the scars on his face faded to nothing. His lips grew fuller and his eyes larger, their formerly green colour darkening to grey.

An anguished wail tore out of his, no, _her _lips, and she slumped over in her steel chair, shoulders shaking with sobs.

The Emperor took no notice of her anguish, and simply indicated to her dramatically. "Citizens of New Beijing, I give you the Rampions' newest weapon: Stasis!"

**A/N: Finally we find out what the weapon is! And what the deal is with Wolf being two places at once. But who is this woman? And what exactly does stasis do? **

**Please review!**


	32. Chapter 32

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Scarlet**

When Scarlet came to the unveiling with the rest of the Rampions, she'd done it to satisfy her curiosity more than anything (and because it was mandatory and the civilians had to be protected and all of those noble superhero reasons that Scarlet was starting to get really sick of by now). Still, it would've been nice if the Council could have at least tried to make them feel comfortable! Instead, Scarlet found herself watching from the roof of a nearby building, along with all the other Rampions who could fly, straining her ears to catch whatever The Emperor was saying. The prodigies who couldn't fly were stuck pretending to be civilians and watching from whatever hiding places they could find in the very open area. Scarlet was actually willing to bet that at least half of the crowd of curious civilians come to watch the presentation were actually Rampions in disguise.

So she ended up spending the presentation practically hanging off the roof of a building in an effort to hear whatever The Emperor was saying about the oh so mysterious weapon. A feat that requires utmost concentration, which was made much harder by the tall figure standing just on the edge of the crowd, their bright green eyes visible even under the shadow of a hood.

When Scarlet saw Wolf there, she almost lost control and shot up into the clouds. What was he doing here? This place was crawling with Rampions! Did he desperately want to get thrown behind bars or something?

A big part of her wanted to fly down there and slap some sense into him, but (somehow) Scarlet managed to restrain herself, and attempted to ignore him while she tried to listen to The Emperor.

When the prisoner was brought to the stage, Scarlet couldn't help but shoot a glance at the real Wolf. From her vantage point, she could see that his eyes had gone wide with shock and he was staring at the prisoner unblinkingly. She could only imagine what must have been going through his head at the time. Skies, she didn't even know what she would feel if she met her evil look-alike. The only thing more disconcerting than that thought was watching the unfortunate twin change shape, becoming a beautiful woman with shiny black hair. Scarlet couldn't suppress a wince of pity at her wails of anguish and the sobs that shook her shoulders. Or a snort of disgust as The Emperor paid absolutely no mind to her and continued on with the show. Wasn't this guy supposed to be a hero?

Her anger only grew as he shot the sobbing woman a disdainful look. "I admit, this wasn't the effect we envisioned stasis to have, but the demonstration was successful just the same. You might remember how the leader of the Lunars claimed to have a chemical agent capable of increasing a prodigy's power. Well, think of stasis as the complete opposite of that. It completely and permanently strips a prodigy of their powers."

The crowd oohed and aahed appreciatively, and Scarlet rolled her eyes. Did they even realise what The Emperor had just said? To be stripped of her powers… Scarlet couldn't think of a worse punishment. No wonder that woman was so distraught.

But apparently the crowd's opinion was all that mattered, because The Emperor smiled proudly. "We believe that stasis is the key to bringing down the Lunars, for good this time."

An uproarious cheer rose up from the crowd. Scarlet risked a glance at Wolf, not sure if she was hoping that he was cheering and blending in, or staying silent, eyes narrowed with disapproval.

The result was sort of in the middle. Wolf was silent, yes, but he didn't look horrified or shocked. If anything, he looked… interested. Did he seriously think stasis was a good idea? Scarlet knew he hated the Lunars, and she could hardly blame him, but to completely and irreversibly change their lives? Actually that made total sense. They did the exact same thing to him, after all.

The Emperor waved a hand at the newly powerless woman. "Take her away. We'll question her later to find out what she knows."

The prodigy guard that brought her in nodded and bent down to undo her shackles. He was relaxed. Incautious. After all, what did he have to fear from this wreck of a woman? It's not like she's going to try anything.

But as soon as the restraints were off, she made a break for it, ducking under the prodigy's arms and off the stage with a banshee shriek.

The crowd screamed and huddled together, away from the crazy woman, effectively trapping any Rampions positioned inside. All over the place, Rampions were jumping out of their hiding places, shooting beams of light at the woman and extending their limbs to trip her up, but she was too nimble and fast.

Gritting her teeth, Scarlet rose into the air from her perch. She swooped down on the woman, lashing out with one leg to try and kick her. But her foot connected with nothing but air. The woman had ducked.

Scarlet just had time to register the fingers closing around her ankle before her flight was suddenly thrown off balance, sending her careening into a wall, jarring her into losing control of her power, and she crumpled to the ground in an aching heap.

Groaning, she raised her head to glare at the woman, which turned out to be a waste of energy. She was well past Scarlet by now, and nearly at the edge of the square. All that stood in her way were some disorganised superheroes, a couple of bold civilians, and Wolf.

_Please don't be an idiot Wolf, _Scarlet thought, _you know what the Rampions will do to you if they catch you._

The remaining superheroes on guard duty dove at the woman and shot at her with dart guns, but the weak, broken person on the stage had given way to a rage-filled demon who wasn't about to be waylaid so easily.

The woman jumped nimbly out of the way of attempts to tackle her, ducked under the path of tranquilisers and twisted the shooters' wrists for good measure so they dropped their weapons, running away again before they could get over their shock.

The few civilians left in her path lost their gumption and scrambled to get out of her way, crying out in terror.

Scarlet growled in frustration, imagining the triumphant smile spreading across that witch's face as she ran. Even without powers she'd beaten the Rampions. Now, there was nothing to stop her. That is, if the only one standing in her way had any sense and stayed out of it…

The woman ran past him, a cackling laugh ripping out of her throat, when fast as lighting he ducked down and grabbed one of her legs, lifting her up so that she was upside down.

The woman squawked and cried out with outrage, kicking and flailing in her captor's iron grip. He turned his head to avoid one of her feet, which instead caught the fabric of his hood.

Scarlet could only watch, helpless as the face that had stayed safely hidden in shadows was brought back into the light of the world, wild brown hair, scars, fangs and all.

A strangled gasp of terror rose from the crowd of people even as a gasp of surprise rose up from the Rampions. Scarlet prayed to the skies that Wolf heard them, that he'd be smart and drop the crazy woman and run. For the sake of the powers, he had super hearing! But for once Wolf's legendary senses seemed to fail him. He looked down at the woman in his grip, his lips pulled back in a snarl, his green eyes seeming to spark with fury and hatred. His prisoner, moments ago defiant and angry, now hung still, eyeing him with terror.

With a roar, Wolf flung her as if she was no more than a ragdoll into the wall of the nearest building. The resounding crack made Scarlet wince.

She flicked her gaze back to Wolf, almost scared of seeing the fury in his eyes again, but it wasn't there. Instead he looked… confused. He had one hand hovering over his neck, like something had bitten him there. Then his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell, crumbling to the ground like a sack of bricks.

"Well, guess this thing was useful after all."

Scarlet started at the sound of Cinder's voice behind her. She was examining her metal hand. The tip of the pointer finger was off, revealing a hollow gun barrel.

**A/N: Which is scarier, a pissed off Scarlet or a pissed of Wolf?**

**We've gotten more detail on stasis, but what will happen to Wolf now that the Rampions have him? Will he be stripped of his powers? And who was the mystery woman? **

**Please review!**


	33. Chapter 33

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Scarlet**

Scarlet was trying very hard not to think. Not to think about that woman sobbing over the loss of her powers. Not to think about the look on The Emperor's face as he looked at her. And most of all, not to think about Wolf being dragged carelessly by the feet into a Rampion van.

A part of her had wanted to fly over to them and yell at them that the man they were condemning was a victim, not a criminal. She wanted to yell at them about how awkward he was at Gilles' tavern and how once in the park a squirrel sat on his foot and looked up at him and he didn't dare move because he was afraid of hurting it and the venom in his voice whenever he talked about the Lunars and-

"What's wrong with you?"

Scarlet startled and blinked at Jacin. "What?"  
He frowned at her. "I said what's wrong with you? You've been acting weird since we got back to headquarters."

Scarlet waved her hand in what she hoped was a nonchalant gesture. "I was just a little freaked out by the demonstration, that's all. Doesn't anyone else think that stripping a prodigy of their powers is a bit overkill?"

Jacin raised a dubious eyebrow, but didn't comment.

Iko shrugged. "Hey, if it's a bad guy we're talking about, I'm all for it!"

"Iko, we're talking about irreversibly changing these people's lives." Cinder reminded her.

"They irreversibly changed their own lives when they chose to become villains."

"That change isn't irreversible though." Kai said, "Thorne is living proof of that."

"Are you honestly using Thorne as an example?" Jacin asked incredulously.

"He was the first case that came to mind!"

Thorne shook his head. "As much as I hate to agree with anything Guard says, he has a point. I'm a pretty horrible example."

"That's not true!" Cress piped up.

Thorne smiled fondly at her but said nothing.

"Anyway," Kai said loudly, "back to Scarlet's question, I think it could be a good idea, but it should be treated sort-of like an execution, only to be used in extreme cases."

Scarlet frowned. "The way your dad's been talking about it, I don't think that will be the case."

"I'll talk to him about it later. Maybe he'll listen."

"And maybe he won't." Scarlet retorted, "This guy's been the world's most-loved superhero for nearly a decade Kai. I know he doesn't act like it, but all that praise is sure to inflate his own opinion of himself, at least a little. Don't deny it," she said as Kai opened his mouth, a furious retort clearly brewing in his eyes. "you saw how high-and-mighty he was when that prisoner broke down in tears. Plus, you're, what, eighteen? I kinda doubt The Emperor will listen to a teenager, even if it's his own son."

"I'm with Scarlet on this one." Thorne put in, "No offence to your family or anything Kai, but you dad hates criminals more than mine hates taxes. There's no way you're going to convince him that this new cure for superpowers should be handled with care."

Kai glared at them both. "As shocking as this may be to you two, I know my own dad. I might even go so far as to say I know him better than you do, and he'll be reasonable about this. He's not going to go around using stasis willy-nilly."

Scarlet snorted and rolled her eyes. For someone who apparently know The Emperor so well, Kai sure wasn't doing a good job at reading between the lines.

"How The Emperor plans to use stasis doesn't matter." Cinder said furiously, stepping between the arguing Rampions, "What matters is if he really knows what making stasis public knowledge could do."

"Are you worried about the Lunars?" Winter murmured, her eyes wide with fear.

"I'm worried about the prodigy haters." Cinder told her grimly. "Roughly half of the world's population still hates prodigies, and now we've got this weapon that can turn prodigies into perfect, regular people. Some fanatic is definitely going to try and get their hands on this stuff and go full terrorist on prodigies."

Cress shivered. "I have seen news reports of people doing things like that."

"I'm sure the Rampions will be careful with stasis." Kai told Cinder reassuringly, putting his hand on her shoulder, but she didn't look convinced.

"I don't see why your worried." Jacin told Cinder, "You would remain a prodigy with or without stasis."

Cinder glanced down at her feet, looking guilty.

Scarlet rocked back and forth on her heels. "Talking of prodigies who might not be affect by stasis, you think it will work on Wolf?"

Instantly, Jacin pinned her with a suspicious glare. "Why do you want to know?"  
Scarlet shrugged her shoulders. The movement felt jerky and sharp. "I'm just curious, that's all. His powers came from genetic meddling, right? He wasn't born with them or got them from some life and death experience."  
"You seem to know an awful lot about this guy."  
Scarlet forced her eyes to roll. "It's not like The Council have been very quiet about it."

"And it's not like they've been very loud about it either." Jacin retorted.

Scarlet folded her arms. "What's your problem anyway? You're acting like I'm going to assassinate The Council or something."

"You could burn them with your hair." Winter suggested.

"That would've been funny if I was sure you were joking."

"Can we please just get back on track?" Jacin said furiously, "You've been acting weird ever since the unveiling. The unveiling where Wolf was arrested."

Scarlet glared at him, hoping it would hide the paling of her cheeks. "I told you, the demonstration freaked me out."  
"You're sure it has nothing to do with how much you know about this guy? And how you brought him up in a conversation that had nothing to do with him?"  
"Do I have to repeat everything twice for you? I was curious!"

Kai stepped between them. "Alright guys that's enough." He said sternly, "Look, Cinder, Winter and I are needed for Wolf's interrogation."  
"Like us being there worked so well last time." Cinder muttered.

"And the last thing we need is you two getting into a punch-up about Scarlet acting weird." Kai finished.

Jacin scowled at Scarlet. "Don't I have a right to be suspicious?"

"Jacin, Scarlet is a Rampion through-and-through." Kai told him firmly. "And the demonstration was unsettling, so there is no need for you to be suspicious. Iko, keep an eye on these two. Tell me if they get into a punch-up while Cinder, Winter and I are gone."

Iko saluted while Scarlet snorted. He was seriously giving her a chaperone? What was she, twelve? Well, hopefully it would keep Jacin off her back

**A/N: About the squirrel story, that's based off experience. The squirrels just went right up to the people and sat on their feet and in their laps in the hopes of getting fed. Needless to say, it was extremely cute **

**Will Jacin figure out the reason behind Scarlet's behaviour? Or will she manage to be subtle for once in her life?**

**Please review!**


	34. Chapter 34

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Kai**

For once, the night and day mosaics of the Council chamber were doing absolutely nothing to calm Kai. His mind was whirling at a hundred miles an hour scattering disjointed bits of information around his consciousness. Stasis. The woman who pretended to be Wolf. The real Wolf getting arrested. Scarlet and Thorne thinking The Emperor was going to use stasis constantly. Cinder's worries about prodigy-hating terrorists. Scarlet's worries about Wolf and the fact that she knew him. That last thought mostly made Kai feel guilty.

In his defence, Scarlet had been acting really weird. She said that it was because of stasis, but Kai still wasn't entirely convinced. And, well, these were uncertain times, with the Lunars back and all, and Scarlet was a new Rampion so she hadn't exactly had time to build up a strong foundation of loyalty or anything so it was okay to be suspicious. Right?

Okay, maybe not.

The doors swung open and a pair of Rampion guards walked in, Wolf held between them. They were glaring at him distrustfully, even though he wasn't actually resisting.

The shoved him onto the ground, and Kai winced in sympathy as Wolf went sprawling. Still, the large prodigy didn't so much as glare at the guards as he shakily got back to his feet.

Kai tilted his head, thinking of the last interview with the person they thought was Wolf. That Wolf had been snarky, condescending and arrogant. He'd smirked and joked and insulted The Council with a flippancy not even Thorne would dare use. That Wolf had been like an Alpha talking to a group of Omegas, dominant and disdainful. But this Wolf… this Wolf reminded Kai of a guilty dog that accidentally smashed a vase and was fearfully awaiting the judgement of its master, all docility and awkwardness. He seemed very interested in the floor, studying every inch of it rather than looking up at the faces of The Council.

Sighing, Kai opened his mind to Wolf's, bracing himself for the rush of ferocity and instincts that he really didn't want to hear (the glimpse he had at the trials was way too awkward for his liking). But the rush was more of a breeze, whispering weakly at Wolf to bare his teeth, to growl, to assert his dominance over these "challengers". And the thoughts themselves weren't hostile either, more… awkward and unsure.

_Am I supposed to say something? Skies, I wish they'd stop staring at me like that. Who are those people standing at the side? Probably more guards. Well I hope one of them has super-strength or something in case I lose it. Hey, isn't that they cyborg girl from trials? I guess her metal fist would hurt, hopefully enough to slap me back to my senses. Oh, and there's that strange girl with the scars. What was her power again? _

Kai blinked in surprise. That was the first time he'd encountered a thought of Winter that wasn't immediately followed by how beautiful she was.

"Ze'ev Kesley," The Emperor said. "alias Wolf. These are your names?"

Wolf nodded.

"Do you know why you're here?"

"Because I'm a danger to society?" Wolf guessed.

Crown Jewel shook her head. "That you are, but you are here because you are a member of the criminal organisation known as the Lunars."  
Wolf shuffled his feet awkwardly. "Technically, I left the Lunars a year ago-"

"Quiet!" Crown Jewel snapped. "You are to answer our questions truthfully and fully. We will know if you don't comply with these terms. Understand?"

Wolf dipped his head in a nod.

"You say that you left the Lunars." Crime Minister said suspiciously, "But how? I remember what your organisation was like during the Blood Moon Time. Anyone who put so much as a tow out of place was killed. Very slowly."

Kai flinched as visions of desperate running through dark stone tunnels filled his mind. Hands gripped the heads of dazed men and twisted sharply with a sharp crack. Fangs sunk into flesh and the taste of blood coated his tongue.

"I was an Alpha at the time," Wolf told The Council, "I could pretty much go wherever I wanted except for planning rooms for the elite Lunar members. I managed to order guards away from their posts and pass through the base without much suspicion. I was almost out by the time someone noticed. From that point it was just a matter of never staying too long in one place and never showing I had powers." He spread his hands out in front of him. "I didn't get away hands clean. A couple other soldiers were sent after me and I had to take them out."

The Council glared down at Wolf, obviously not liking the blank way he talked about killing. But they weren't seeing what Kai was seeing. They didn't see the way Wolf's hands had shaken after breaking a neck, or how he desperately tried to spit out the blood in his mouth and on his teeth. Kai glanced over at Winter, who was looking vaguely nauseous.

"How many soldiers like you do the Lunars have?" President Star barked.

Wolf shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. Back when I left, there were roughly fifty packs. A pack is like a regiment. Each pack had six to fifteen members."

"Great, so there's more than five hundred of you abominations." President Star muttered.

Wolf looked down at his feet. _An abomination. That's exactly what I am._

Kai cringed in sympathy.

Primal narrowed his eyes inquisitively. "How do the soldiers fight?"

Wolf opened his mouth to answer, but Crown Jewel beat him to it with a snort. "You honestly need to ask that Bromstad? You saw the way he handled that impostor this morning. Savagery and brutality is the only kind of fighting these things know. It's in their instincts or something."

"That wasn't instinct though, I was fine when I fought with that woman." Wolf protested.

"Then why did you attack her as ruthlessly as you did? I wouldn't be surprised if she has spinal damage."

An image flashed across Wolf's mind, of a girl with vibrant red hair being thrown into a wall, her features twisted with pain, followed by a surge of rage and worry. And something else… something strong…

Wolf hesitated. "Does it really matter why?"

General Thunder scowled. "Now I'm suspicious. What was your reason? You had one, didn't you?"

"I was just trying to help."

"Oddly brutal way of helping." Crime Minister murmured. "You didn't have an ulterior reason did you?" 

Wolf bit his lip. _I could just say no. But they did say they had a way to check if I was lying. I don't want to get even further on their bad-side._ "Yes, but it's not important."  
"We'll be the judge of what's important or not." The Emperor declared. "Now tell us the other reason."

Wolf shifted his weight uncomfortably. Kai could see that his ears had turned bright red.

Shaking his head, he stepped forward. "Council, his other motive is irrelevant to what you're talking about. And also very personal so there's no need for you to try and drag the information out of him."

President Star raised a sceptical eyebrow. "No offence Diplomat, but your mind-reading isn't exactly top-notch. How do we know this guy's not just putting on a front for you to see like the last one did?"  
"Wait, you're a mind-reader?" Wolf exclaimed.

"Um… yes?" Kai said awkwardly.

Wolf's eyes darkened with fury and he snapped his head around to glare at The Council. "You have had someone here, sifting through my thoughts, and you didn't think to tell me?" he growled.

Crown Jewel raised an eyebrow. "Telling you would defeat the purpose now, wouldn't it?"

"Telling me would have let me know that my privacy was going to be invaded! Which I have a right to know!"  
"Rights?" President Star snorted, "You're and unstable, vicious freak of science that if left to your own devices would eat everyone in this room."  
"You think I asked for this?" Wolf roared, "You think I like being pushed to kill people by my own brain? That I enjoy people running in terror at the sight of my teeth?"

"No, of course not." The Emperor said placatingly, with a pointed glare at his colleagues. But either they didn't see the gesture, or ignored it.

"Well, you should have thought of all that stuff before you volunteered, huh?" President Star drawled mockingly.

"Vargas!" Primal hissed, but the damage was done.

"You think I volunteered for this?" Wolf barked furiously, "You think I willingly let myself be poked full of needles and have my teeth pulled out to make room for fangs? I was just some strong twelve-year-old boy they plucked off the streets! Every one of us was just some strong twelve-year-old boy they plucked of the streets!"

The Emperor raised his hands for silence. "Enough! That includes you Vargas!"

Wolf shut his mouth, glaring angrily at President Star.

The Emperor pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Mechanic, did you detect any lies?"

Cinder shook her head. Her eyes were wide with shock at Wolf's outburst.

"Diplomat, did his thoughts match his words?"  
Kai cast an uneasy look at Wolf, who was now glaring at him. "Yes, they did."

"Soul Blood? What of his emotions?"

Winter bowed her head. "Aside from the sudden burst of outrage just then, all I got was nerves and awkwardness. He has no intention of hurting anyone, despite President Star's insults."

The Emperor nodded in satisfaction and stood up from his chair. "Judging from that outburst, regardless of President Star's comments, I'd say you don't hold any fond feelings for the organisation known as the Lunars. Am I correct?"

Wolf nodded.

"Then here is my proposal. We give Ze'ev Kesley a trail run so we can properly start to understand his personality, without jumping to conclusions based on past affiliations and powers, by placing him under strict supervision of a Rampion. This Rampion will act as his guide around headquarters and will report back any suspicious activity or information Ze'ev might have revealed."

"I agree with this course of action." Said Crime Minister, "Wolf is strong, and we need to learn more about these soldiers."  
"Or whatever other stuff the Lunars are hiding" General Thunder added.

Primal dipped his head. "I'm in agreement too."

"Well I for one think it's a terrible idea." Crown Jewel sniffed, "We already know this man is dangerous from the spectacle at trials."  
"There's no telling what will push this guy over the edge." President Star said darkly.

The Emperor nodded sagely. "Those are valid points. But majority still rules, so we're still going through with the motion!" he added with a brilliant grin.

Fighting a smile, Kai stepped forward. "Emperor, I'd like to make a suggestion for Wolf's supervisor."  
The Emperor tilted his head. "Who is it."  
"Well, being able to fly would be handy for this kind of assignment, so how about Red Comet?"

**A/N: Oooooh**

**Wolf's interrogation everyone! And Kai's powers in action! But the Lunars' deadline is drawing nearer, and they still haven't found a solution. Will the gang figure something out?**

**Please review!**


	35. Chapter 35

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Wolf**

When Wolf had finally been let out of the Lunar's science labs all those years ago, he'd hoped that was the last time he'd ever have to be poked and prodded by doctors and scientists. But the universe apparently hated him, because here he was, in a lab, being poked and prodded by scientists.

"What were the results from the X-ray?" A short old scientist called out.

Another scientist pulled up a distorted image of Wolf's skeleton on her computer. "Bone structure seems normal. All of his teeth seem to bear resemblance to a carnivore rather than just the canines. Judging from this image, they are all implants."

The older scientist nodded and made a note on a clipboard. "That explains the scars on his gums. What were the results of the DNA analysis?"

"Identical to the results from the last subject." His colleague replied. "The DNA bears some definite resemblance to that of _canis lupus arctos_."

"What about the MRI?"

"Advanced sensory input and heightened response time."

"The CT scan?"

"Abnormally high muscle strength and flexibility."

"You do realise I could have just told you all of this, right?"

The scientists stared at Wolf as though they'd forgotten he was there, which they probably had.

"The Lunars told me about my new abilities when they finished "improving" me." Wolf explained, "You didn't need to do an X-ray, or an MRI, or any of that if you'd just asked."

"But this way we can find out the exact details of your capabilities." The older scientist pointed out, "I doubt that the Lunars would have provided you with that information."

"But do you actually need to know that?"

"Yes. What were the results from the blood sample?"

Wolf groaned and rested his head against the wall. As soon as The Council had finished grilling him for information, they'd sent him down here to be studied like some sort of interesting new species of bug. He'd hated this place as soon as he smelled the pheromones and bitter medicines. He hated it even more when he heard the humming and beeping of life-support machines. He hated it most when he saw the operating table and the scalpels and needles arranged neatly by the sink. Especially when he saw the needles.

As the scientists conducted their tests, Wolf couldn't stop moving. His fingers twitched, his feet tapped, his legs jogged. The only moment of the entire procedure where he was absolutely still was when they took his blood sample. He had been so tense, Wolf doubted he could have moved if he tried. Just one look at that needle made him freeze. The scientists had to forcibly move his arm in place so they could take the blood since Wolf wouldn't move. _Couldn't _move. Nightmares that had followed him for years played in his mind of the wretched things burrowing into his skin, filling his veins with whatever mixture of chemicals they contained.

The older scientist made another note on his clipboard before turning to Wolf. "Alright then, I think we're done here. I'll call your chaperone down here to pick you up."

Wolf shifted his weight uncomfortably. Right, The Council's proposition. Today he would officially meet his chaperone and get shown around the Rampions' base. Of course Wolf was gratefully that he wasn't going to be sent to rot in a prison cell in Placen, but he doubted that the Rampions would be happy to have someone they've been told was an unstable murderous Lunar walking around their base. He could just imagine the glares and disgusted looks that would follow him with every step. They might even attack him. The skies know he wouldn't be surprised.

But, despite the distrust he knew would surround him like a fog, there was a part of him, and it wasn't a small part of him either, that was looking forward to it. The reason? Scarlet. Scarlet was going to be his guardian. She was probably annoyed that she got saddled with the job of essentially being his babysitter, but she was going to be there, walking beside him, talking to him, probably glaring at him… the idea was enough to sow a shimmering silver lining into the otherwise black cloud that followed his thoughts of the tour.

Wolf's first encounter of Rampion distrust was in Scarlet's teammates.

"They insisted on tagging along for the tour of HQ." she explained, "Because apparently I wouldn't be able to handle it if you suddenly decided to murder everyone."

"Your power is flight, and that's it." A boy with long blond hair and ice blue eyes drawled, "This guy has enhanced strength and literal fangs. Doesn't seem very evenly matched."

"Oh, and someone who's power is shielding their emotions would do so much better?" Scarlet retorted.

Wolf wasn't really listening to their argument. He was too busy wishing the ground would just swallow him up then and there. Nearly all of Scarlet's teammates were looking at him with open hostility and fear. The short blonde one looked like she was going to faint! Really, the only ones that didn't seem to hate and/or fear him were the weird scarred girl, who seemed to be in a world of her own, and Scarlet herself. At least, Wolf hoped she wasn't afraid of him. The very thought of her running away at the sight of him felt like a rusty spike being driven into his heart.

Scarlet clapped her hands together. "Well, let's get this tour started then. So, you obviously already know about the labs since we're standing in them. I get the feeling you'll be spending almost as much time down here as Cinder."

"Lucky me." The cyborg girl muttered under her breath. Wolf couldn't help agreeing with her.

Scarlet turned on her heel and strode for the elevator, calling out over her shoulder, "I'll show you the cafeteria next, since The Council told me you eat a lot."

"I'm starting to question whether you even have a proper plan for this tour." The blond boy said.

"Shut up Jacin."

Throughout the tour, Wolf did his best to focus on Scarlet and only Scarlet, not just because she was telling him where to find everything in a ridiculously huge building, but because she was seemingly the only one making an effort to be friendly to him. Every other Rampion they passed in the building made it very, very clear just how much they hated Wolf. One prodigy whose entire lower body resembled a snake used her tail to trip him up in the hallway. Another froze his feet to the floor and Cinder had to use her metal fist to break the ice. By the time they finished the first floor, Wolf was twitching and jumping at the slightest thing for fear of getting hit by more supernatural powers. At least Scarlet's teammates seemed a bit less hostile towards him, after he got attacked with by a prodigy with wicked talons and the worst he did was hold her clawed hands away from his face. She still managed to tear several long, bloody scratches along his cheek though.

"Remind me to never go on one of these tours again." A brown-haired man named Thorne said, "That cryogenic prodigy almost hit me with his freaky ice powers."

"Trust me, there was no way Snowstorm would have hit you." A girl with blue hair and bright yellow eyes named Iko assured him, "He's got really good aim, and good control of his abilities."

Cinder smirked. "Like when he froze the fuel tank in the Rampion Parade."

"You don't know it was him!" the mind-reader, Kai, reminded her.

"Oh yeah? Just how many cryogenics do you have here?"  
"Okay fine, he's the only one, but it might have been a non-Rampion!"

"You keep telling yourself that."

Wolf stomped his still-numb feet, trying to block out their friendly banter, and the jealousy that came with it. He knew that they would never talk to him that way, no matter how many times he kept his instincts in check. They had decided where he fit in their world, and that wasn't going to change. They couldn't just forget about the time he nearly killed Hunter, or what The Council's been telling them about him. Still, the knowledge hurt.

Fingers wrapped around the inside of his elbow, shocking him out of his thoughts.

"I'd better start on the city tour with this guy." Scarlet said, "And since half the prodigies here just tried to attack him and he hasn't gone into a murderous rage, can you guys actually let me do my job without getting out of any of yours?"

"I don't know if that's such a good idea Scarlet." Cress, the short one, said, eyeing Wolf nervously, "He might snap at any minute."

"If he didn't snap when Vulcan set his jacket on fire he won't snap out in the city." Scarlet said firmly, "Besides, one Rampion by themselves already attracts way too much attention. Can you imagine what a crowd a whole group of them would make? We wouldn't be able to make it a foot away from base!"

"Rampions are pretty much reporter magnets." Kai admitted.

"Thank you!"

"But what if he's just one small pinch away from snapping right now?" Jacin protested.

The scarred girl named Winter rested one hand gently on Jacin's shoulder. "He isn't. The most negative emotion I've felt from him was a significant amount of misery. After all, nearly everyone he's met has hated him on sight."

Thorne whistled. "Aces that's depressing."

"Anyway," Scarlet interjected loudly, "now that Winter's confirmed that he's totally safe to be around, will you let me give him a tour by myself?"

They didn't like the idea. That was obvious in their reluctant exchanged looks and screwed-up mouths. But, finally, they nodded.

Out in the city, the people seemed torn between running away from Wolf or flocking towards Scarlet. Their eyes gleamed in admiration at the sight of her dark blue uniform and widened with fear at the sight of Wolf's face. Scarlet didn't look at them, instead just keeping her head held high and proud against the people staring awkwardly staring at them.

Wolf wasn't very sure where she was literally dragging him to, since she didn't say a single word throughout the walk. He just hoped that it was somewhere the stares and fear wouldn't follow.

Eventually, when the crowds finally started to thin and disperse, Scarlet's pace slowed and her fingers slipped away from his arm. Wolf couldn't suppress the stab of disappointment as her hand fell down to her side.

"How're you feeling?" She asked him softly.

He shrugged. "My feet are still a bit numb, but other than that I'm fine."  
Scarlet smiled a little. "As reassuring as that is, you know I didn't mean physically. Winter said you were miserable all day."

Wolf sighed. "I guess I'm still not fully immune to people hating me. I don't know why it still upsets me when I know it's going to happen but it just does. I'm sure I'll get used to it eventually."

"You shouldn't have to though." Scarlet said, "Anyone who's had at least one conversation with you knows you wouldn't hurt a fly if you could help it."

Wolf tilted his head dubiously. "But there were times when I could help it, and I still hurt people."  
Scarlet rolled her eyes. "What, like Roland? Pretty sure he had that one coming."

"Still, I'm not exactly stable, even without the wolf stuff affecting my head."

"That's not your fault, and you know it." Scarlet said fiercely, "You told me you were trained and conditioned to fight and kill since you were twelve. That kind of stuff doesn't just go away."

"But I should at least try a little harder to keep myself in check."

"You can't possibly try any harder than you already do!" Scarlet protested, "Ugh, this right here is the worst thing the Lunars did to you. Not the mutations, not the training, this-this idea that it's your fault whenever you do something wrong! That you deserve all the hate you get!"  
Wolf opened his mouth to speak, but his voice died in his throat as Scarlet took both his hands in hers. "It's not your fault Wolf." She told him, "None of it is your fault. You said yourself, you were just some kid they plucked off the streets! You didn't do anything to deserve what they did to you. Your instincts, your anger, your violence, they did all of that. None of it is your fault. So please, just stop blaming yourself for it. Please!"

Wolf was having a very hard time processing what Scarlet was saying. His brain seemed to be working at a snail's pace as he looked down at her large brown eyes, her freckled cheeks, and her full lips. Her lips. Why were her lips so distracting?

Finally, he managed to nod. "Okay. I'll try."

"Don't try. Do." She ordered.

She started to pull her hands away, and Wolf instinctively gripped them tighter. Scarlet froze, staring up at him with wide eyes.

Wolf swallowed and forced himself to let go. His hands felt empty as he did. "Sorry."

Scarlet didn't answer. She was staring at her hands, still frozen in place. She gently flexed her fingers, one by one, as if feeling them for the first time.

Finally she smiled up at Wolf. "Don't be."

And then she was leaning forward, her pale cheeks flushed red, and pressing her warm mouth to his.

**A/N: Well it's about time I made one of these couples happen!**

**Please review!**


	36. Chapter 36

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Winter**

If it weren't for the distinctive taps of her shoes against marble, Winter would think that she was walking on the air itself. A giant stone that had been sitting on her shoulders was now nothing more than a hollow wooden sphere. Soon, it wouldn't exist at all. Finally they will know. She and Jacin were going to tell them, and they will know.

"We're so going to be thrown in Placen for this." Jacin muttered.

"Placen is only for the common prodigy criminals." Winter told him cheerfully, "We'll probably be given a dose of stasis."

"Yay, let's lose our powers and make it even easier for the Lunars to kill us!"

"I wouldn't mind losing my powers." Winter mused, "Maybe that would stop the walls from bleeding."

Jacin screwed up his mouth with discomfort. "While I'm all for stopping your visions, we don't know the psychological impacts of stasis. The Rampions are only planning on using it on criminals after all, I seriously doubt they care about any other negative impacts."

Winter laughed light-heartedly. "Of course they care Jacin! If they didn't, then blood would be staining their uniforms!"

Jacin shook his head hopelessly. "I don't know Winter. You saw The Emperor's reaction to when Double Ganger lost her powers. He didn't care that she was a sobbing wreck, all he saw was a villain that had been given justice."

"But Double Ganger is a villain."

"No-one can argue with that. But everyone associated with the Lunars fits under that bubble Winter! That chances of him, or the rest of The Council, showing us any mercy are pretty much non-existent."

"Ah-ha!" Winter crowed triumphantly, "That, My Guard, is where you are wrong! Cress was the Lunar's top hacker, and now the Rampions let her work for them. Wolf is a former Lunar soldier, and The Council are giving him a chance to prove himself. Who's to say that they won't be merciful with us? Ignoring grumpy guards." She added mischievously.

He rolled his eyes, but Winter still caught the tiny smile forming on his face. "Very funny Trouble."

Winter had always been intimidated by The Council, but now, the sight of them brought nothing but relief. It was very nearly over.

The ball of wood resting on her shoulders became a ball of feathers.

"You wanted to see us Soul Blood, Guard?" The Emperor prompted.

Jacin stepped forward. "Soul Blood and I have information regarding the criminal organisation known as the Lunars."

Winter grinned slightly at his business-like tone, though she knew that the formality would work best for sharing their news with The Council (because Jacin had spent nearly an hour explaining this to her). Winter couldn't really summon up that serious rigidity required for this manner, but Jacin could do it just fine.

The Emperor smiled. "Well, that's excellent news! As you know, Levana's deadline is drawing ever closer, and we need all the information we can get our hands on."

"We hope that we will be able to bring enough information Emperor." Jacin relied.

An involuntary shudder ran along Winter's spine as a sudden wave of suspicion washed over her, quickly followed by Crown Jewel's icy voice. "How did you come by this information?"

Jacin sighed, his mask of formality finally cracking. "Because… we were members of the Lunars."

The change was instantaneous.

What was friendly curiosity became burning hatred and suspicion, crashing into Winter from all sides. It felt as though The Council had gone from humorously ruffling her hair to punching her in the gut. A pained gasp tore from Winter's throat and her body went rigid with shock and pain.

Finger's gripped her shoulder, a reassuring anchor to the world of substance, and away from the ocean of feeling.

"Do you mind calming down a little?" Jacin snapped, "You're hurting Winter!"

"Good!" growled President Star, "Filthy Lunar! Probably been feeding information back to your so-called queen since you got here!"

Jacin laughed mockingly. "Oh, and you'd maintain your moral values against her, would you? Even when she threatened to kill you and your family?"

Winter sighed in relief as the pain subsided to give way to the gentler emotions of discomfort and sympathy.

Jacin gently took hold of her chin, turning her face to the side and displaying her scars to The Council. "You see these scars? Levana gave Winter those when she was thirteen because she was prettier than her. And that's only what you can see on the outside! Winter struggles with terrifying hallucinations. She sees blood leaking out of the walls and nightmare creatures in the shadows to name a few, and Levana loves nothing more than making those visions worse. Just imagine that for a second: drowning in blood that isn't real, being torn apart by an imaginary monster. Doesn't sound fun, does it?"

The members of The Council glanced at each other. Winter could sense that they wanted to distrust her and Jacin for posing as genuine Rampions, for spying and leaking information to the Lunars. But they couldn't, their morals wouldn't allow it, not after what Jacin had said.

"Such experiences should have left Soul Blood insane," Crime Minister murmured, "yet she seems perfectly fine to me."

"Then I'm afraid your intuition is in need of work, Crime Minister." Winter quickly replied, "Anyone who's had a full conversation with me will tell you that I'm insane. They will tell you of my odd way of speaking and my nonsensical mutterings. They will tell you how I talk to nothing and how I cover my walls with paint to hide bloodstains they can't see. I am very insane, Crime Minister. I never know what is real or fake. Jacin is the only thing that's real. He has helped me and supported me through all my years of being alive. You may do what you wish to punish me for working with the Lunars, but I won't stand by if you try to harm Jacin."

Jacin raised his hand. "Just so you know, if you try to punish Winter I'm not going to stand by either."

The Council exchanged unsure looks. Winter knew that she and Jacin were a very difficult case. Cress had been subtly working to help the Rampions before they took her in, and Wolf technically hadn't done anything wrong. But Winter and Jacin… Winter and Jacin didn't have those excuses.

Eventually, The Emperor stood up. He appeared confident, unstoppable, but Winter knew what he was really feeling: tired. So very tired.

"While Soul Blood and Guard have worked against us, I move that we should adopt a similar approach to Wolf's situation." The Emperor announced, "Their team will supervise them closely, and will report back to us any suspicious behaviour they might have noticed. Agreed?"

The rest of The Council nodded in agreement, studying Jacin and Winter with eyes narrowed.

Winter smiled in relief. They didn't trust them, they didn't know what to do with them, but now they knew. And finally, the weight on her shoulders was gone.

**A/N: The truth is out!**

**How will the rest of the gang react to this new revelation? Will they continue to be friends with Winter and Jacin or turn their backs?**

**Please review!**


	37. Chapter 37

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Cinder**

Cinder couldn't help but notice how busy the Lunars have been lately. There was that woman who got subjected to stasis, then there was Wolf getting arrested (for real this time) and Scarlet being assigned to be his supervisor. And now, Jacin and Winter had secretly been Lunars all along. She still wasn't sure how she felt about that.

But, judging from the reactions of her teammates, she was the only one unsure about this.

Cress was staring at the pair, her blue eyes wide with betrayal. "When you offered to take me on a walk around the city and the fake Wolf attacked… that wasn't a coincidence was it? You knew that was going to happen!"

"And we knew that the Rampions would swoop in and save the day." Jacin told her. "Because we warned them! Didn't The Council tell you about the message?"  
"A message sent from an anonymous sender." Kai said suspiciously. "Sorry Jacin but there's no concrete proof that you guys were the ones who sent the message."

"He's telling the truth Kai." Cinder told him.

"That doesn't excuse the fact that he went along with the attack." Thorne growled. Cinder couldn't help but notice that he was standing very close to Cress.

Scarlet glared at him. "Come on, don't you think you're being a little too quick to judge? Seriously, can you honestly see Winter hurting anyone?"

"I can see Jacin hurting someone." Iko replied with a glare at the Lunar in question.

He rolled his eyes. "Just because I'm not a ditzy little fairy like you doesn't make me cold-blooded."

"Never would have guessed it from the way you act." Thorne grumbled.

"Jacin's character aside," Scarlet interrupted loudly, "I think we should give them a chance."

Iko stared at her incredulously. "But they're Lunars! They're villains!"

Cinder raised an eyebrow at her. "Iko, did you seriously just call Winter a villain?"

Iko's lips thinned with irritation, but she said nothing.

"I feel like a villain." Winter's soft voice spoke.

Instantly, she had everyone's attention. She raised her chin, and Cinder could see that her soft eyes were shining with unshed tears.

"I have lived with the Lunars throughout my entire life." She continued, "I knew what atrocities they were committing. I knew they were stealing away innocent boys and twisting them to become the fiercest soldiers the world had ever seen."

Scarlet bit down on her bottom lip.

"I knew they were taking in unwanted prodigy children and forcing them to serve them against their will."

Cress looked down at her feet, blinking hard.

"I knew they were taking unsuspecting prodigy criminals housed in facilities such as Placen and subjecting them to letumosis testing during its development."

Thorne's eyes widened.

"I knew everything that they were doing. And yet, I did nothing. I chose comfort over doing what was right. Up until now, that choice has stood tall and strong as stone. But I can't sit back anymore. I've loved working with the Rampions, opposing the Lunars and protecting the people they desired to hurt, even though I myself was hurting them in certain ways. But I can't continue along that path. I want to help fight against them. I want to heal instead of hurt. You all may despise me if you wish, I won't hold it against you. But I swear to you from the bottom of my heart, that I am with you now every step that is to come."

A silence fell over the group after Winter's speech. The tears were running freely down her cheeks now, and she had bowed her head, as if waiting for punishment. The rest of them exchanged unsure glances, and Cinder knew that they didn't need her to tell them the sincerity behind Winter's words. But the distrust still lingered, unwilling to relinquish its hold after the newest revelation.

Kai was the one to finally break the spell as he sighed. "Well, our personal feelings about this don't really matter anyway. The Council has ordered that we are to supervise them, so that's what we'll do. But first, does anyone have any other Earth-shattering secrets they need to share?"

Cinder gritted her teeth against the words rising up in her throat. A confession of her new superpower beat against her teeth, and the words revealing her mother's identity as a blackburn burned into her tongue. But she didn't let them escape. She could only imagine how the others would react.

When no-one replied to his question, Kai nodded sharply. "Right then, we'll need to assign two people to supervise Winter and Jacin."

"I can't." Scarlet said immediately, "I'm already supervising Wolf. I'm going to pick him up from the labs as soon as we've finished here."

"The Council wants me to send them some files on letumosis." Cress said quietly.

Kai shrugged. "Guess that leaves Iko and Thorne."

Thorne glared at him. "Why can't you or Cinder do it?"  
"Yes, why can't you?" Jacin agreed, "No way am I putting up with Thorne for the whole day. It's bad enough as it is!"

"Cinder and I have been assigned to comb the city to look for any suspicious activity." Kai told them.

And orange light blinked in the corner of Cinder's vision. Her lie detector.

Iko looked back and forth between Kai and Cinder, her lips slowly curving into a mischievous smile. "Oh? You were given this assignment? Just the two of you?"

"Iko!" Cinder yelped, her eyes stretching wide.

She casually flipped her braids over her shoulder. "Hey, just calling it like I see it."

"Well don't!"

"On that note," Kai said loudly, "whatever that note was, the rest of us have jobs to do at this time and you guys don't so you're stuck with guard duty."

Thorne raised an eyebrow. "Normally I'd argue more since you and Cinder have a highly suspicious excuse, but I can hardly blame you for conning your way out of spending time with Jacin."

"I can blame you for forcing me to spend time with Thorne." Jacin grumbled.

"Think of it as your punishment for being a former Lunar." Kai grinned.

Jacin groaned dramatically and Winter giggled.

Scarlet rose to hover above the ground. "As entertaining as this is, I'd better go and pick up Wolf."

"And I'd better get to work." Cress added, heading for the elevator.

Thorne waved after her. "See ya."

Cress smiled and waved back.

Cinder stiffened as fingers suddenly wrapped around the inside of her arm.

"We'll be going too." Kai said. "See you guys later!"

"Bye!" Iko called after them brightly.

Kai kept his hand on Cinder's elbow as they headed for the main doors to the lobby. Only when they were outside did he finally let go, leaving a lingering patch of warmth on her arm.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You must've been really desperate not to do guard duty."

Ka had the decency to look sheepish as he shrugged. "Not necessarily. Maybe I just wanted to spend time with my teammate?"

Cinder rolled her eyes, even as she thanked the skies for her inability to blush.

**A/N: You can probably guess what the main theme for the next chapter will be. **

**Please review!**


	38. Chapter 38

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Kai**

Kai was both surprised and relieved that Cinder wasn't irritated with him for dragging her out on a fake mission. And that she didn't have anything else to do. It felt like she spent so much time down in the labs now, with the scientists assessing her new cybernetic limbs multiple times a day. He was starting to think that it was stressing her out. She'd been a lot more distant lately, staring off into another world with her brow furrowed. Half the time he went to fetch her when she was in her dorm, she was pacing around like a caged lion. Maybe he should consider sending a message down to the scientists asking to just lay off for a bit? Being a superhero was already stressful enough without having a bunch of people in lab coats poke at you day-in day-out.

But, for now at least, he just needed to help her relax. And this fake mission was the perfect way to do it.

Or, it would be if they weren't wearing their uniforms.

Cinder cringed under the gazes of the civilians passing by, her metal hand twitching under the force of the looks it was attracting, none of them, to Kai's confusion, full of awe, or impressed. They were all disgusted. They didn't see a superhero when they looked at Cinder, or even a person. They saw an abomination, a freak of science and nature, something that should have just been left to rot in a junkyard.

Kai scowled. The skies know this wouldn't help with her situation.

Forcing a cheerful grin, he turned to Cinder. "Come on. The first area we're supposed to scout is this way."

She raised an eyebrow at him. He pretended not to notice and murmured a message into his wrist-band, "Send comm to Mechanic: Just look busy. They usually leave you alone if they think you're on duty. End."

There was an answering beep from Cinder's wristband as the message was sent. She quickly read the message, before tilting her head up and squaring her shoulders.

Kai fought against a smirk. And he thought Iko was an actress.

"So, where's this area we're scouting?" Cinder asked, a slight smirk on her lips.

Kai smiled back. "There's this little grove of pine trees in the park that we're supposed to check out."

She nodded sagely. "Ah yes, I suppose The Council is worried that some criminal is hiding a stash of drugs in the tree trunks."

Kai snorted before he could stop himself and Cinder smirked teasingly. "And here I thought diplomats were supposed to be serious."

"But I'm also a superhero," Kai reminded her, "I can be a bit lax with the rules."

"The same can be said about being the son of the literal boss of the Rampions, but you still follow them to the letter."

"I actually always thought that, being the son of the literal boss of the Rampions, I have to obey the rules even more strictly."

Cinder blinked at him. "That's… a very stressful way to live."

"Well then, good thing pine scent helps relieve stress." Kai grinned.

"Oh, so this "mission" is to help you relax!"

"Actually, it's to help _you _relax." Kai corrected her.

Cinder frowned at him with confusion. "…Me?"

"Yeah. I've noticed you seem a bit stressed out lately so I thought you could use a little time off, you know, to unwind a little."

Cinder's eyes widened, almost like she was… afraid. But what could she be afraid of?

"I mean, I can hardly blame you for being stressed." Kai said, "What with the Lunars, and stasis, and the scientists calling you in so often-"

"You noticed that?" she yelped.

Kai stared at her. Okay, she was definitely _not _relaxing. "Cinder, is everything all right?"

Cinder glanced down at her feet. "I've just had a lot of things on my mind."

"Like what?" Kai asked gently.

"Oh, you know," Cinder said with a shaky grin, "there's a massive group of evil prodigies who want to kill us all so that's not really helping me sleep at night."

"There's something else though, isn't there?"

Cinder scratched at her wrist, biting her bottom lip uncomfortably. Kai placed his hand gently on her shoulder, and she jumped.

"It's okay Cinder," He told her, "you can tell me anything. I'm your friend. Let me help you."

She shook off his hand. "It's nothing Kai. You don't have to worry about me."

"It really sounds like I do though."

"Trust me Kai, you don't. I'm fine."

"Fine people don't panic when someone notices that they've been really stressed lately."

"I didn't panic!" Cinder protested.

Kai raised an eyebrow at her. Cinder glared back.

"Cinder, it's obvious that something's going on with you. Please, just let me help. You'll feel better if you at talk about it. Trust me on this, I've been stressed loads of times."

She chuckled quietly. "Well, you are a team leader. That's pretty much a given."

"But I'm also the son of the leader of the Rampions, so if I do something wrong part of it reflects badly on him." Kai said, "And it also means that I generally know about what's going on in the Rampions, including all the stuff that's going wrong, so I've got that weighing down my mind. Oh, and then there's the whole thing that one of my teammates is an ex-con, two of them are former Lunars, and one of them is hanging around a slightly unstable former Lunar soldier pretty much all the time. So, yeah, I know stress."

Cinder raised her eyebrows. "You have all that going on in your head all the time?"

Kai tilted his head to one side, considering. "Well, maybe not all the time. But a lot of the time. Still, I do know what it's like to be stressed, and believe me when I say that it really helps to actually talk about it." He shot her a glance. "So, now will you tell me what's wrong?"

Cinder pressed her lips together tightly, before letting out a long sigh. "You remember that time you came down to visit me in the labs and I was unconscious?"  
Kai nodded. "Kind of hard to forget something like that."

"Do you know why I was unconscious?"

"Dmitri told me they were running a test to figure out the function of one of your cybernetic parts."

"Yeah, well, turns out that particular part was… suppressing a natural superpower." Cinder told him.

Kai's eyes widened. Cinder had another superpower? That's… that's…

"That's incredible!" He exclaimed.

Cinder stared at him. "It… is?"  
"Well, I mean, it's a new superpower! That's always super cool!" Kai cried.

Cinder shook her head, but Kai could still see her amused grin. "Well, that makes one of us. I've just been worrying about what it is this whole time."

"Don't." Kai told her, "No matter what the power is, it'll be yours to use however you want, so there's no need to worry."

"But what if I can't control it?" Cinder asked worriedly.

"Then the Rampions will help you learn how to." Kai placed his hands on Cinder's shoulders "Trust me Cinder, you're going to be alright. Nothing bad is going to happen because of this power, whatever it turns out to be. Okay?"

Cinder gave a small smile. "If you say so."  
"I know so." Kai insisted. "It's going to be fine Cinder. I promise."

She sighed. "You have no idea how much I'm hoping you can keep that promise."

"I definitely can." Kai insisted. "Just trust me, okay?"

Cinder smiled at him. "All right, I trust you."

Kai smiled back at her. Taking hold of her chin, he gently tilted her head to the side and, quickly, softly, kissed her on the cheek.

**A/N: Kaider fans rejoice! The groundwork is being laid!**

**Please review!**


	39. Chapter 39

**Really sorry this is so late!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Cinder**

Cinder couldn't stop fidgeting, itching her wrists, flexing her robotic fingers, tugging at her hair, she just couldn't seem to sit still. Every nerve was buzzing relentlessly. It had been like that since yesterday, when Kai kissed her on the cheek.

When Kai kissed her on the cheek. Cinder still wasn't sure if it had actually happened, or if it had just been a dream. Just, Kaito Royal, the Diplomat, the son of the leader of the Rampions, liking her? Cinder, the half-machine prodigy that even other prodigies consider freakish and disgusting? It was ridiculous! Laughable even! Like a bad joke! And yet, it looked like it was real. More or less.

A sharp cuff on the back of Cinder's head jolted her reluctantly back to the present.

"If you're quite finished daydreaming…" grumbled a voice.

Cinder glared at Dr Erland. "A simple snap in front of my face would have worked, you know. You didn't have to hit me!"

He waved away her complaints. "Oh, don't be such a baby. I didn't hit you that hard, I rather doubt it even hurt. Now, I believe you have some exercises to get on with?"

Cinder bit back a groan. The exercises, the beginning of Training. Or as Cinder preferred to call it, Tyranny Class. Dr Erland always scolded her when she referred to them that way, but Cinder didn't really see a better word for it. She was forcing people to do what she wanted, wasn't she? Not just that, she was forcing them to see, to think, to feel what she wanted. It didn't matter how much you twisted the truth to attempt to settle your conscience, that kind of control was a form of tyranny. And a tyrant was exactly what Cinder didn't want to be. If only there wasn't that whole issue that not using her powers would turn her insane and her one protection against that was damaged chip on her spine. Yeah… Cinder's life was a real party right then.

Dr Erland, either not noticing or ignoring Cinder's irritation (she found herself leaning towards the former), clapped his hands in a self-satisfied way and stepped back, spreading his hands in invitation. "Right then, we'll start with something simple: make me think you're Crown Jewel."

Cinder scowled at him but closed her eyes and concentrated. Dr Erland had told her that, judging from descriptions given by former Lunars from the Blood Moon Time, the Blackburn family simply had to will for their victims to think something, and then they thought it. Cinder had hoped to the skies that he was wrong so she could go about her normal life. Unfortunately, he wasn't. Great skies why couldn't he just be wrong for once in his life?

When she finally opened her eyes, Dr Erland was nodding in satisfaction. "Good. Now, in her jewel form please."

Cinder adjusted her glamour again, masking the flesh with an image of glimmering quartz.

"Excellent. Now, make me do jumping jacks."

Cinder frowned and, out of spite, made the jumping jacks just a tiny bit too fast.

"Alright, alright, that's enough!" Dr Erland gasped, his arms and legs shaking slightly under the strain.

Upon his release from Cinder's hold, her promptly collapsed to the floor. Hurriedly, he straightened up, adjusting the glasses perched on the tip of his nose.

"I would encourage you to act a little more mature with your powers." He told her disapprovingly.

Cinder glared at him. "You know, you wouldn't have to go through any of this if you would just fix my device!"

"Right, adopt a surgery to remove a device we still know very little about from your nervous system, possibly resulting in paralysis." Dr Erland said dryly, "Sure, give me an hour."

Cinder gritted her teeth in frustration. There he went, being annoyingly logical and right again.

Dr Erland sighed. "Cinder, I know you don't like your new powers-"

"Understatement."

"-but it is imperative that you use them, for your own safety. It has been proven many times over that neglecting powers relating to the mind has a serious impact on the user's sanity. Your friend Soul Blood is proof of this! Or did you think that she was born with a penchant to comment on whether or not the walls are bleeding?"

Cinder bit her lip, saying nothing.

"It doesn't matter how you feel about your powers." Dr Erland continued, "You're stuck with them now, whether you like it or not, and you're going to have to use them if you want to live your life free of terrifying hallucinations."

"Alright, I get it, I'm a whiny teenager." Cinder grumbled.

"I didn't say that, I just said that you can't get away with not-using your powers. It's perfectly fine to dislike them. Hate them as much as you want! Many prodigies view their powers as a curse and prefer not to use them, living as perfectly ordinary civilians. Unfortunately, not all of them can get away with that free of consequence, you included."

Cinder sighed. "Alright. I understand."

Dr Erland nodded briskly. "Maybe we'll skip over the rest of the exercises today and go straight to Training."

Cinder flinched. Now this was the part she hated the most. When she forced an unwitting, unwilling person to do something they never would've in real life. So far, she'd made a winged prodigy suddenly pull a janitor into a waltz, a scientist rip their own lab coat to shreds, a prodigy covered in scales dump their own lunch over their head, and various other public humiliating things that many of them were still getting teased for.

"I think you're ready to take things a step further now." Dr Erland continued.

Cinder frowned at him. "What do you mean?"

"Some prodigies have natural defences against mind-control." He explained, "They'll be much more difficult for you to manipulate, but not impossible, provided their protection isn't absolute."

"And you want me to manipulate them." Cinder guessed.

Dr Erland nodded, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "In fact, I already have a prodigy in mind…"

Cinder never thought she'd feel guilty for doing something to Wolf. The guy had openly admitted to killing people, had almost killed people right in front of her, and, for all she knew, was just one step away from killing her friends. But she had to admit, even he didn't deserve to have his brain messed with without his knowledge.

Cinder frowned at him from her hiding place in a nearby corridor, watching him wince as Obsidian pelted him with small, black rocks. Scarlet was looking up at him with pity. Well, she was going to pity him even more when Cinder was through with him.

"_Your particular brand of mind-control is only effective against humans."_ Dr Erland had told her, _"Kesley's animalistic psyche will make him very difficult to control."_ Great, maybe that meant she'd fail.

Huffing out a sigh, Cinder concentrated.

Dr Erland hadn't been exaggerating when he said Wolf would be hard to control. In fact, he'd understated it. Everyone else that Cinder had manipulated had fallen under her control unnervingly easily, but with Wolf… it was like trying to catch a giant, slippery snake with her bare hands. Every time she thought she had a grip on it, that it was finally still, it would thrash and hiss and slip away. She tried holding it tighter, but then it would only thrash harder. And, judging from the way he was massaging his forehead and gritting his teeth, giving Wolf a headache.

Maybe it would work better if she didn't try to control his mind. If she just stuck to controlling his body, maybe then it would be easier. Dr Erland had warned her against doing this during training. People willing doing strange things was a topic for laughter, but people doing strange things against their wills… that drew suspicion. But Cinder was out of options.

So, with a final, effortful push, she grabbed a hold of that snake. This time, she let it move however it wanted in her hold but didn't let it escape.

_I'll just make him walk, _she thought, _nothing weird about walking_

Oh how wrong she was.

One of Wolf's leg's suddenly shot out at a weird, jaunty angle, and came down awkwardly on the ground. His other leg mirrored the same jerky, robotic movement, the flat of his foot slamming the heavily onto the floor. His green eyes were wide with shock and confusion, and his arms were flailed out for balance as his legs continued their strange goosestep along the hall.

"Uh, Wolf?" Scarlet called after him, "What are you doing?"

Wolf swivelled his neck around to stare at her, a panicky light brewing in his eyes. "I honestly have no idea!"

The other Rampions started laughing. It was quiet, at first, but soon grew louder, and louder. Soon, the hall was full of their cruelty. It was all Cinder could hear. Mocking shouts and insults, high, sharp chuckles. Scarlet's face had flushed with anger and she was shouting at the superheroes, but her loud voice was suddenly as quiet as a mouse's squeak.

Wolf screwed up his face in concentration, and then… Cinder felt the snake grow wider. Her fingers slipped around the scales, now only barely managing to hold on to Wolf's mind. He took another step. And his foot stilled to a shaky stop in mid-air.

He'd resisted her control. Dr Erland would probably want her to keep going, to regain control and force Wolf to continue his misery. But that wasn't what Cinder wanted. She let go of the snake.

**A/N: Cinder practicing mind-control (and making Wolf miserable. I'm sure she'll apologise later)**

**Please review!**


	40. Chapter 40

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Cress**

Cress sprinted through the halls of Rampion headquarters, her heart pounding with excitement. Around her, Rampions hastily stepped out of her way, shouting at her with annoyance, but for once Cress managed to ignore them. She'd found something, something big. Something that might be the key to beating the Lunars once and for all. And she needed to tell The Council as soon as possible.

A ping from her communicator band caused Cress to stumble to a stop. She hastily read the message glowing from the screen of her band.

IMPORTANT TEAM MEETING BE AT TRAINING HALL IN TEN MINUTES. SENT FROM DIPLOMAT 7 SECONDS AGO.

Cress bit her lip. On the one hand, she needed to talk to The Council. On the other hand, this also seemed to be pretty important. The question was, which of them could wait. The Council really depended on her to find them information on the Lunars, and this latest news was huge. But this seemed urgent, and she didn't want to keep her friends waiting. Plus, Thorne would be there…

Cress glanced back at the comm. The Council would just have to wait. And besides, how long could this meeting take, really?

Cress's team was grouped together in the corner of the training hall. Around them, other teams had gathered and were talking excitedly. Cress couldn't quite hear what they were talking about, but she had a feeling the answer lay inside the briefcase Kai had brought with him.

"Are you sure you want to talk to us about whatever this big important thing is while the Lunars are here?" Iko asked with a pointed glare at Jacin and Winter.

"Former Lunars." Jacin growled in response.

"Well excuse me if I'm still struggling to actually believe that."

Cress raised a timid hand. "Um, Iko, I'm a former Lunar."

Thorne smiled at her. "But you haven't betrayed us in any way since you became a Rampion, so you're all good."

Cress ducked her head as her cheeks warmed.

Kai raised a hand for silence. "Guys, calm down. According to The Council, Winter and Jacin are still Rampions, whatever their past affiliations were. But I'm a bit less trusting towards Scarlet's charge."

Scarlet scowled at him. "In case you've forgotten, my job is to supervise him at all times."

"I know, but couldn't you have left Wolf in the labs for this bit? I get that he doesn't like the Lunars, but that doesn't mean he likes the Rampions."

Scarlet grinned. "Ever heard of the saying, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend?""

Cress cast an uneasy glance at Wolf. She didn't think she was ready to call him a friend just yet.

Kai sighed. "All right, fine. The show must go on I guess."

He set the briefcase down at his feet and opened the lid. Inside, neatly packed in black foam, was a set of darts.

"Each dart is full of stasis." Kai explained, "The Council wants us to begin training with them, and we are to have at least one dart in our guns at all times."

Scarlet picked out one of the darts and eyed it suspiciously. Wolf was looking at it too, and Cress couldn't help but notice the odd gleam in his eye. But why would he be interested in stasis if he's really the Rampions' "friend"?

Jacin picks up a dart as well, scrutinising it carefully. "You still think your dad's going to be responsible with this stuff Kai?"

Kai narrowed his eyes at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm just saying that it doesn't look like The Emperor's treating this stuff as a method of last resort like you said." Jacin told him.

"He is." Kai insisted, "We're only supposed to use stasis in extreme cases."  
Jacin raised a dubious eyebrow at him. "Oh yeah? Did he actually tell you that?  
"He didn't tell me that we're supposed to use it all the time either." Kai snapped back furiously.

Jacin shrugged. "He must've assumed that you'd already know that since it's so obvious. Then again, your dad's not the best at picking up signals. He didn't even consider that maybe the Lunars are still around."

"Oh, and your organisation made that so clear, did they?" Kai snarled, "It's not like your leader died at the end of the Blood Moon time and you guys didn't do anything at all for years."

Winter stepped forward, putting a hand on Jacin's shoulder. "Please don't say Jacin and I are a part of them Kai-friend." She pleaded.

Cress breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Thank goodness. That argument was starting to get a little too heated for comfort.

But it seemed Jacin wasn't in the mood for diplomacy, as he shrugged off Winter's hand and grinned at Kai mockingly. ""didn't do anything?" Come on, didn't your precious Rampions notice all those twelve-year-old boys going missing? Then again, they were the poor ones, and the Rampions must focus on the rich people who'll give them a good face for the public, huh?"

"The Rampions want what's best for _everyone_." Kai growled.

Jacin barked with laughter. "If you actually believe that, you're more gullible than I thought."

Kai took a threatening step forward, fury etched deep into his handsome features. Cinder grabbed Kai's shoulder at the same time Winter grabbed Jacin's arm.

"Kai, calm down, you know Jacin doesn't know the meaning of the word "polite"." Cinder said.

"Jacin, what are you doing?" Winter asked desperately, "You don't mean any of what you're saying, I know you don't!"

Jacin tugged his arm sharply out of Winter's grip, narrowing his eyes at her in a cold, sharp glare. "If you really think that, you don't know me that well at all."

Cress's eyes widened with shock as Winter's widened with hurt. Since when was Jacin rude to Winter?

Thorne raised an eyebrow at Jacin. "Uh… Guard? Are you okay? You're even grumpier than usual."

Jacin snorted. "Hey look, the brainless criminal actually noticed something!"

"Okay, that sounded more like you."

"I'm failing to see what about what Jacin said is unusual." Kai said caustically, obviously still fuming from the insults Jacin had thrown at his dad.

"Oh, and you're an expert on me, are you?" Jacin sneered, "Spend all your spare time studying my thoughts?"

Scarlet stepped between the two boys, hands raised as if to separate them. "Okay, I think you guys need a little time to cool off."

Cress squeezed her eyes shut. Please let them listen. Please, please, please…

Jacin nodded. "Thank you Scarlet, Kai does need some time to realise his father's not the great hero he's supposed to be."

Cress groaned with disappointment.

Scarlet glared at him. "That's not what I said."

"It's obviously what you meant though. After all, you said yourself before that the Emperor probably isn't going to be very sparing with the use of stasis.

Kai narrowed his eyes at Scarlet suspiciously. "You did say that…"

She snorted. "I'm not taking sides here Kai, I'm just trying to prevent a punch-up."

"But you do agree with him, don't you?"

"There's no need to drag Scarlet into your argument for having an opinion."

Cress flinched away as Wolf spoke. She'd almost forgotten he was there.

"She's just trying to keep someone from getting hurt," Wolf continued, "you don't have to be rude to her."

"She thinks that my dad would just strip a prodigy of their powers without a second thought!" Kai furiously retorted.

"She's allowed to have an opinion." Wolf said sternly, "That's not an excuse to be rude."

"You're only taking her side because you're in love with her!"

Wait, what?

As soon as the snappish words were spoken, Kai clapped a hand over his mouth, wide-eyed at his own mistake, but the damage was done. Everyone stared at Wolf, who's ears had turned crimson. With rage or embarrassment? Cress couldn't tell.

"I thought I made it clear I don't like you reading my mind." He said coldly.

"Wait, so, you are in love with her?" Cress yelped, then immediately wished she hadn't as Wolf's sharp gaze flicked over to her. Right then, she could easily see the resemblance to the wild animals that were his namesake.

"Hey, don't glare at her!" Thorne said, stepping in front of Cress protectively, "She's not the one who read your mind!"

"Which begs the question." Jacin said suspiciously, "What other minds has Kai read?"

Kai's eyes widened at the implication. "I only read Wolf's mind during his interrogation, and that was because I was ordered to! Besides, you guys know my powers aren't that strong! I can only read passing thoughts and memories, not actually dig into your psyches!"

Jacin's cold gaze flicked over to Cinder. "Cinder, is he telling the truth?"

"Is he-?" she echoed incredulously, "Of course he is!"

"Right, forgot, you're hardly a reliable source of information, are you?"  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Cinder retorted furiously.

Jacin rolled his eyes. "Come one, it's painfully obvious that you and Kai like each other. Of course you'd take his side."

"Don't talk about my sister like that!" Iko growled at him.

"She's not your sister."

"Yes she is!"

Cress glanced around surreptitiously. Now all the teams were openly staring at them, with varying degrees of puzzlement and interest. Their eyes seemed to burn into Cress, attacking her skin as the ever-sharpening voices of her teammates attacked her ears. With this bombardment from all sides, Cress couldn't quite remember just what reason she had had for being so happy just that morning.

**A/N: So sorry this is late! I've got exams coming up and I'm studying like mad! Also, there's a reason Jacin is so OOC in this chapter. But you're just going to have to stay tuned to find out why ;)**

**Please review!**


	41. Chapter 41

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Scarlet**

It was late in the evening when Scarlet finally left Rampion headquarters. Her hands were clenched into fists at her sides and her pale, freckled cheeks were flushed with rage. What was wrong with Jacin? Picking fights with Kai, antagonising Cinder, twisting everyone's words to make it sound like they were insulting each other, by all the powers he was even rude to Winter! Scarlet knew he was a jerk, but she didn't think he was that much of a jerk. The argument ended up getting so heated that Crime Minister had to step in and send the team off for counselling. An actual Council member had to step in. That's how bad the argument got.

Then again, it could have been worse. At least all of Scarlet's personal secrets were safe, unlike Wolf's. If anyone had a right to be ticked off, it was him.

Scarlet already knew that he loved her, that was obvious. She saw it as proof that he wasn't a villain, that he was just a good person who bad things had happened to. Unfortunately, the others didn't see it that way. Actually, scratch that, Jacin made sure they didn't see it that way. Now, they thought that his wolfish instincts would get the better of him and, in an act of animal savagery, would try to rape her or, assert his dominance over her and prove he was the "alpha" in the relationship or something. Please, as if Wolf would ever do that.

"Are you okay?"

Scarlet blinked in surprise and glanced up at him. "What?"

"You haven't stopped scowling since we left headquarters." Wolf continued, "I just wanted to know if you're alright."

"I… of course I'm alright." Scarlet assured him. "I'm more worried about you. The others really attacked you in that argument."

Wolf shrugged and smiled softly. "It's nothing I'm not used to. The other Rampions attack me all the time."

"Not with your own personal secrets."

It was hard to tell in the dark, but Scarlet could swear that Wolf's ears turned red. "It's nothing they wouldn't have figured out eventually."

"But if they did figure it out on their own, they wouldn't have used it as a weapon against you."

"Are you sure about that?"

Scarlet stopped dead in her tracks, startled. "What do you mean?"

Wolf gazed at her sadly. "I know that they think I'm a monster. Whenever they see me, they see a barely controlled killing machine."

"You don't know that." Scarlet protested.

"Scarlet, they hardly ever leave me alone with you they're so afraid I'll suddenly snap and tear you to pieces. And you saw the way they looked at me in that meeting today."

"They just don't know you that well." Scarlet told him, reaching up to cup his cheek in one hand. Wolf nuzzled into her touch, but she could see the glimmer of doubt in his eyes.

She pressed her forehead against his, letting her hand stroke his wild tufts of brown hair. "Just trust me Wolf." She murmured, "It'll get better soon. The Rampions will see what kind of person you really are, and then, all of this will stop."

"Whatever you say." Wolf replied, his warm breath lightly brushing her lips.

Scarlet smiled and pulled him towards her, bringing her free hand up to rest on his shoulder as she kissed him. She felt Wolf's powerful arms wrap around her, his fingers running through her thick curly hair as he kissed her back.

Scarlet could have happily stayed like that for hours, but eventually Wolf broke the kiss, though he kept his arms wrapped around her, holding her gently in place. Scarlet rested her head against his chest, enjoying the steady sound of his heartbeat.

"Scarlet?" he said quietly, "can I… ask you a favour?"

"Ask away."

"When you get the chance, could you try shooting me with stasis?"

"What?" Scarlet cried out in shock, pulling away from him slightly so she could look up into his face.

He frowned uncomfortably. "I just want to know if it would work on me."

"By having me shoot you with the stuff? Wolf, you have no idea what it might do to you!"

"I know it will either do nothing or take away my powers."

"With what kinds of side effects?" Scarlet countered, "We're only supposed to use stasis on criminals. I seriously doubt The Counsel will be going out of their way to protect their mental health!"

"My mental health is already ruined Scarlet. It's ruined because of my powers. If I could lose them, it would be the first step to recovery, assuming that's even possible at this point."

Scarlet looked away, glaring at the ground. She didn't like this. She didn't like this one tiny bit.

Wolf gently tilted her head back up to look at him again.

"Scarlet please," he whispered, "I just need you to try, okay? I can't just keep pretending I'm normal when I know there's a chance that can be a reality."  
"And what if shooting you with stasis doesn't work? You didn't become a prodigy in the traditional way, remember?" Scarlet asked, "What then?"  
"If stasis won't work, it won't work." Wolf said simply, "But if it does work…"

Scarlet sighed in frustration. As much as she hated to admit it, she saw his point. Wolf did utterly despise what he was and, whatever other side-effects there may be, stasis would cure that for him. He would be normal. He would be happy.

Scarlet opened her mouth, to argue or to agree, she wasn't sure yet. But whatever she was going to say was cut off by a strange, mocking voice. "Well hello brother. Fancy seeing you here."

Wolf immediately tensed and his head snapped around, teeth bared and a growl rumbling in his throat. Scarlet followed his gaze and found herself looking at a lean but muscular man, not much older than she was, leaning casually against a nearby building. He grinned, and his white teeth flashed in the moonlight.

"I see you've chosen a mate for yourself." The man continued, with a nod towards Scarlet. "I suppose she's pretty enough, but you certainly could've done better."

Scarlet bristled. "_She_ can hear you."

"Oh, I'm well aware." the man assured her, "But I wasn't talking to you, was I? I was talking to my old _Alpha._" He spat out the last word, sneering as if it had left a bad taste in his mouth.

Wolf folded his arms, and his green eyes narrowed to glowing slits. "Big talk, coming from an Omega. Has the pack started throwing actual meat your way yet Ran, or are you still stuck with the bones?"

Ran snarled, and again Scarlet saw the gleam of his teeth. His strangely sharp teeth.

Her eyes widened and she took an involuntary step back. One of the Lunars' soldiers was here, standing right in front of her! Great skies, he had insulted her! Somehow, she had imagined all of the soldiers to be like Wolf: deadly and unstable, but actually giant marshmallows underneath all those scars. But, judging from the arrogant manner of this one, the way he grinned as if to show off his fearsome teeth, he was not a giant marshmallow, or even particularly upset about what the Lunars did to him.

Ran closed his eyes and inhaled deeply through his nose. When he opened them again, all traces of rage were gone, and that horrid grin was back. "Now, now brother, no need for us to fight."  
"You don't want to fight? That's a first." Wolf snorted.

Ran's gaze hardened. "You're simply not my priority right now. My priority…" He slowly pointed one long finger at Scarlet. "is her."

Scarlet narrowed her eyes. "Now what would you want with a "not pretty enough" girl like me?"

"I could name a few things." Ran grinned, and Scarlet recoiled in disgust.

"But what I want doesn't matter right now." He continued, "You, my dear, are one of the lucky chosen who'll get a blessed taste of the Lunars' miracle solution. Trust me, with this stuff running through your veins, you will be open to an entirely new world of possibility."

"And if she doesn't want your "miracle solution"?" Wolf asked, subtly stepping in front of Scarlet.

"I'm afraid she doesn't get a say in the matter."

Ran unhooked a gun concealed under his shirt, his predatory gaze fixed on Scarlet. Her own hand strayed to the gun in her waistband, but before her fingers could even brush against the metal, Wolf had pounced, a feral roar tearing from his throat. Ran widened his stance, sharp teeth bared as Wolf charged. He seized the hand that was holding the gun and Ran immediately started struggling against his grip, lunging forward to sink his teeth into Wolf's shoulder. Scarlet screamed, but Wolf easily dodged the jaws of his opponent, and mercilessly twisted Ran's hand, forcing him to drop the gun. Quick as lightning, Wolf snatched the weapon up off the ground, but Ran wasn't going for the gun. Instead, he was pouncing toward a different target. Scarlet.

In a panic, Scarlet lifted off the ground, trying to fly out of reach, but Ran was too quick. He just managed to grab hold of her ankle. He swung her down, and her skull hit the rough tarmac of the road. Her ears rang, and where her thoughts used to be there was only a heavy fuzz. Darkness slowly blurred over her vision, and the last thing she saw was Wolf, his bright green eyes wide with shock, his lips forming a word she couldn't make out, and then, darkness.

**A/N: Cliff-hanger! Ooh, you guys must hate me for pulling one of these on you while my schedules' all over the place. Who knows when I will finally put you out of your misery?**

**Please review!**


	42. Chapter 42

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Jacin**

Jacin sat down on his bed wearily, running his fingers through his white blond hair. A bitter taste lingered in his mouth from the argument from yesterday, like the words he'd said had left a poison coating on his tongue. Words that had seemed totally reasonable and justified at the time, for some reason, but now seemed completely wrong.

He groaned and flopped back on the annoyingly soft mattress. It didn't really matter what he felt about it now, did it? What mattered was, he said those things. He turned everyone against each other. How do you make up for something like that? Saying sorry? Ha! Like they'd believe him.

A beep from his communicator band jolted Jacin out of his thoughts.

TEAM MEETING IN MY DORM ROOM IN FIVE MINUTES. EVERYONE BE THERE. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. SENT FROM DIPLOMAT TEN SECONDS AGO.

Jacin sighed. Hopefully this time he won't start a great big argument.

The gazes of his teammates burned into Jacin as he entered the room. He tilted his chin up and met each suspicious, untrusting look coolly. Except Winter, who wasn't looking at him at all. Jacin was surprised by how much that hurt.

Kai narrowed his copper eyes at him, obviously not happy that Jacin had decided to turn up. Hey, if he didn't want Jacin there, he shouldn't have sent a message to him.

"Last night, a Rampion patrol found Red Comet unconscious on the road." Kai told everyone, "Her injuries aren't too severe, and she'll be released from the med bay and returned to active duty by tomorrow morning."

"Why was she unconscious?" Cress asked quietly.

"We don't know. But…"

Jacin clenched his jaw, trying to resist the urge to tell Kai to get on with it. He knew that, in the best of times, the others found him annoying. He couldn't imagine what reception he would get now.

Kai sighed. "Wolf is the prime suspect. Scarlet took him out with her when she left Rampion headquarters last night, and he wasn't around when the patrol found her."

Thorne shrugged. "Can't say I'm surprised. We knew that guy was instable."

"And that he can be seriously violent." Iko added.

Jacin stared at them incredulously. "Are you guys seriously buying this?"

Cinder shot him a glare. "None of us have the patience to deal with you anymore Jacin, so I strongly suggest you shut up."

"And I strongly suggest you use that robot brain of yours to figure out that this story makes absolutely no sense." Jacin retorted, "Wolf was in love with Scarlet in case any of you have forgotten. It doesn't make sense that he would hurt her. And before you throw that stupid "he's a wild animal and will hurt anybody if he loses it" excuse at me," he continued as Thorne opened his mouth to protest, "he won't just lose it for no reason. It doesn't work that way. He'll need some sort of trigger. Extreme pain, fear, anger, that sort of thing. He won't just suddenly snap and attack whoever happened to be closest to him. And thirdly, even if he did lose it and Scarlet was the victim, I seriously doubt she'd still be breathing."

Cinder raised an eyebrow. "You've changed your tune. Yesterday you were going on and on about how Wolf's love of Scarlet would make him hurt her because of his animal instincts."

"Well, the me from yesterday was an idiot." Jacin replied.

Iko raised her eyebrows. "Huh. Didn't expect you to actually admit it."

Jacin sighed. "Look, I don't know what was going through my head when I said all that stuff yesterday, alright? I know you all think I'm a jerk, but I'm not that bad."

The group exchanged looks. Jacin knew they didn't believe him. And who could blame them? He was the undercover Lunar who only yesterday had started a heated argument between everyone. Not exactly prime trustworthy material.

There was a ping from Kai's wristband, and he raised the screen to his face. He smiled with relief as he read the message and looked up at the rest of the team. "Scarlet's woken up. We're allowed to visit her."

Scarlet glared up at Jacin from her bed. "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged. "I'm on this team too, remember? Kinda obligated to be here."

"And I suppose that you're obligated to be a total jerk too. Oh, wait, that's just your personality."

Iko rested a hand on Scarlet's shoulder. "I think he'll be a bit more respectful now. Earlier he sort-of apologised for the argument yesterday."

Scarlet snorted. "Jacin? Apologise? I highly doubt that."

"If you're done sorting through all your drama…"

Everyone looked awkwardly at Crown Jewel, in her full crystal form, as she glared at them disapprovingly. Jacin glared at her boots. Of all The Council members, they had to be stuck with her? The most suspicious and antagonistic one of the lot? You've got to be kidding.

Crown Jewel turned her glare to Scarlet. "Red Comet, we need you to recount all the events that led to your present condition."

Scarlet told them. And all the while Jacin felt his scowl deepen. So the Lunars are still testing? They were still trying to perfect their miracle juice, with the same sort of subjects? It didn't look like they managed to get the stuff flowing through Scarlet's bloodstream, otherwise she'd be a) dead or b) in desperate need of a straitjacket. But for all those questions answered, there's still more questions that have sprung to life. What happened to Wolf? From the sounds of it, he was trying to protect her, but why didn't he return to HQ? And where was Scarlet's attacker, what was his name? Ran? Whatever, they needed to find him and make sure he couldn't go after Scarlet again.

But first, they needed to deal with the ever-cynical Crown Jewel.

"I still can't quite say I believe that Wolf was innocent during this whole confrontation." She sniffed, "You said that your attacker called him, "brother". If he has family loyal to the Lunars, then it's very likely that he himself has loyalties there."

"But what if they aren't actually family?" Cress piped up.

Crown Jewel glared down at her. "People who call each-other "brother" are typically family 1-0."

Cress paled, but ploughed on. "W-well, the soldiers are organised into packs, you know, like real wolves? And in real wolf packs, it's sort of like a really big, really violent family, right? So maybe that was it. Just some kind of soldier… wolf… camaraderie… thing."

The Council member raised an eyebrow down at the small prodigy. "A "camaraderie thing"?"

Cress nodded shakily.

Kai stepped between the two girls, his face stretched into what Jacin thought of as his "let's-all-get-along" smile. "I have an idea on how we can settle this argument." Kai said with forced cheer.

Crown Jewel looked at him coldly. "Yes, Diplomat?"  
"How about we find out exactly what happened to Wolf after the attack?" Kai continued, "That way we can confirm Scarlet's side of the story, and maybe gain some insight as to what we're dealing with here."

"Very well." Crown Jewel said. "Your team will fan out across the city to search for Wolf. I'll have some members of the surveillance team keep an eye out for any suspicious activity to give you a helping hand as well. You are to leave immediately."

For the first time since Jacin met her, Winter wasn't talking to him. She was usually a complete chatterbox, talking about everything from the new dress the seamstress had made for her to her latest vision of blood bubbling up from Levana's mouth. But not now. Now, she was silent as stone. It was disorientating. And more than a little scary, especially since it was because of him. He shuddered involuntarily as he looked at her, walking demurely by his side, her gorgeous golden-brown eyes drifting disinterestedly around the street, supposedly searching for a clue for where in the world Wolf was right then. But Jacin knew that she wasn't looking for a clue, or anything in particular. She was just looking, aimless and sad, at the bright, happy world around her. A world that she didn't think she should be a part of.

Jacin sighed. "Winter, can I… talk to you?"

She didn't reply. Jacin wasn't even sure if she heard him. But he continued nonetheless. "I just… I wanted to say that I'm sorry. For the way I acted yesterday. The things I said to you. I was being an idiot, and a jerk. Winter, I'm so, so-"

A warm, smooth hand slipped into his and his voice died in his throat with shock. Winter was looking at him now, her bright red lips curved into a sweet smile. "I forgive you." She said simply. Three words. And they meant the world to Jacin.

Hesitantly, he returned her smile, and his heart skipped a beat as her own widened. She took his other hand in hers, and her warm golden gaze lifted to meet his own ice blue one. He tilted his face down, just slightly, and she tilted her face up. One moment she was calm and happy. The next… she wasn't.

Her eyes suddenly widened with fear, and her hands shook.

"Winter? Jacin asked worriedly, "What's wrong?"

Winter's grip on his hands tightened. "I… I can smell blood."

Jacin opened his mouth, ready to tell her to calm down, that it wasn't real, when he smelled it too. A bitter, coppery stench carried in the air, faint, but definitely there.

Jacin turned his head and narrowed his eyes. If he could smell it, then the source can't be far.

"Stay here." He told Winter, who nodded, terrified by the scent.

Jacin looked around, trying to figure out where would be a likely place that would stink of blood. His gaze fell on a passage between two buildings, barely wide enough to fit a grown man inside. Cautiously, he walked toward it. He reached the edge of the gap. He peered around the corner… and immediately looked away, bile fast rushing up his throat. He was desperately glad he'd told Winter to stay put. A dead body is the last thing she should see.

**A/N:** **I'M SORRY THE CLIFFHANGER DIDN'T GET RESOLVED PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! (hides)**

**Please review!**


	43. Chapter 43

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Thorne**

Thorne was fast realising a major problem with this scavenger hunt for Wolf: what in the skies were they supposed to be looking for? It's all very well to say "Go look for clues" but what would count as clues? A footprint in wet cement? A convenient picture of him wandering around on the news? Thorne was a con artist, not a detective!

"I don't suppose you've noticed anything?" He asked Cress.

She shook her head.

Thorne sighed. "Figures. Don't the Rampions have prodigies that can, I don't know, sense whoever's walked on a track of pavement?"

"Yes, but she's in England investigating a series of murders down in Whitechapel. I read about her when I was hacking the Rampion databases for the Lunars." Cress added embarrassedly at Thorne's surprised look.

"I'm starting to think you know more about the Rampions than they do."

"I don't know about that. The Council seems pretty aware of everything that happens."

Thorne smirked at her. "That's just what they want you to think. I've seen that strategy used by teachers and prison wardens to scare their charges into doing as they're told. Really they don't know spades about what's happening outside their fancy room."

"But they have security cameras," Cress said, "and the surveillance team."

"Who will only report back stuff they think is worth The Council's time." Thorne told her. "A break in at HQ? Call The Council! But a fire in the cafeteria caused by a Rampion losing their temper over the bruised tomatoes? I'm willing to bet The Council won't hear a word."

"That seems like bad surveillance."

Thorne shrugged. "Hey, that's just how I figure it works. I could be wrong. I just don't think The Council will be interested to know that the leader of team 7 ate a bologna sandwich for lunch which he shouldn't do because he's supposed to be vegetarian the sneaky rascal."

Cress giggled, and Thorne felt his smile twitch a little wider.

A simultaneous ping rang from both their communicator bands. Thorne answered the message, tapping on his screen. But instead of the usual bold text, glowing from the glass was a picture. A very detailed, high definition picture as well, which was unfortunate, because the picture was disgusting! A body, lying awkwardly in the shadows of an alley, its pale skin and torn clothes turned dark and crusty with dried blood. Its chest had been ripped open, revealing the yellowish ribs peeking out through thick muscle. A huge chunk had been taken out of its neck and right shoulder, so it might as well have been for all that was left attaching the head to the body. Blood stained its lips, its face, its teeth, and its eyes were open wide, as though whoever this was was filled with fear, even in death.

"What happened?" Cress whispered. Thorne glanced over to her, grateful for the chance to avoid looking at the grisly image, and saw that her face had gone as pale as the body in the picture.

On impulse he reached out and took her hand, squeezing gently. Cress glanced down at their joined hands in surprise, and a touch of colour returned to her white cheeks.

There was another ping from their communicator bands. Thorne noted with no small amount of relief that it was just normal text this time.

WHAT THE SKIES HAPPENED TO THAT GUY? SENT FROM MECHANIC 5 SECONDS AGO.

_Ping!_

NO IDEA. BUT IT DEFINITELY WASN'T DEATH BY SCARLET'S BOYFRIEND. SENT FROM GUARD 6 SECONDS AGO.

_Ping!_

OF COURSE WOLF DIDN'T DO IT HE WOULD NEVER HURT ANYONE LIKE THAT. SENT FROM RED COMET 7 SECONDS AGO.

"I think Scarlet's been spending a little too much time with Wolf." Thorne muttered under his breath, "She's way too sympathetic towards that guy."

"I think she means he wouldn't do it intentionally." Cress replied, "And I'd have to agree with her. Wolf mostly seems sad, not violent."

_Ping!_

CAN'T HELPT BUT NOTICE THAT SCARLET DIDN'T DENY THAT WOLF'S HER BOYFRIEND BUT WHATEVER. SHE'S SAYING HE WOULDN'T DO IT BECAUSE SHE LIKES HIM BUT UNLIKE THE REST OF YOU I GET AN UP-CLOSE AND PERSONAL VIEW OF THIS BODY AND WOLF JUST PHYSICALLY COULDN'T INFLICT THIS MUCH DAMAGE. NOT UNLESS HE SOMEHOW GOT HOLD OF A SMALL DAGGER AND A CHAINSAW. SENT FROM GUARD 30 SECONDS AGO.

_Ping!_

WELL BESIDES THE FACT THAT YOU'VE COMPLETELY DESTROYED MY APPETITE AND EVERYONE ELSE'S GOOD WORK GUARD. THIS MIGHT NOT BE A CLUE TOWARDS WOLF'S DISAPPEARANCE BUT NOW WE KNOW THAT THERE'S A VERY BRUTAL MURDERER RUNNING LOOSE WHICH IS JUST AS IMPORTANT. THE REST OF YOU RETURN TO HEADQUARTERS. I DON'T WANT ANY OF YOU TO TURN OUT LIKE THE CORPSE JACIN FOUND. SENT FROM DIPLOMAT 33 SECONDS AGO.

"Neither do I." Thorne muttered under his breath.

"What could possibly have done that?" Cress wondered aloud as they walked back to headquarters.

"A person?" Thorne guessed, "Like Jacin said, all they'd need is a dagger and a chainsaw."  
"But the way that person was…" she swallowed, "murdered didn't look like a human approach. It was too chaotic. There wasn't a direct point of attack, just… violence all over the place."  
Thorne raised his eyebrows, impressed. "Wow… if you ever get bored of hacking, you would be a great detective."

Cress's face flushed a pretty shade of pink. Thorne started to grin, when all of a sudden, he heard something. A steady, slow, ticking sound, like a clock… no, no not a clock. More like something tapping on something. Like a pencil tapping against a desk, or a wooden cane being tapped against the tarmac. Yes, that was it. Some old person was just walking behind them. Right? It couldn't hurt to check. After all, Kai had told them to be careful. So Thorne looked over his shoulder…

**A/N: Yep… it's another cliff hanger. I wasn't planning on it, but I couldn't resist. Sorry guys! I'll update this story ASAP so you won't have to suffer for too long. In the meantime, don't kill me!**

**Please review!**


	44. Chapter 44

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Thorne**

Thorne scooped Cress up into his arms and ran full tilt down the street. Cress shrieked and clung to him tightly as the world blurred around them, but Thorne was too focused on getting her away from what he saw to notice. What he did notice was the enraged roar that was fast fading behind him. Thorne wasn't worried about the creature catching up. An actual cheetah wouldn't be able to catch up to Thorne. But he was worried about not finding a safe place to put Cress before he tired. He could only run at his top speed for so long before he became too exhausted to even walk, and then both he and Cress would be easy prey.

Skidding to an unsteady halt, he glanced around quickly. Finally his gaze landed on a tech shop.

"Can you hide in one of those machines for a while?" Thorne asked Cress urgently.

She nodded shakily.

"Good. I'll distract our stalker for a while, give you enough time to contact the others and call in for reinforcements. The Rampions should be able to find me with their fancy surveillance system."

"What about you?" Cress whispered.

Thorne tried for an easy grin. "I'll be fine. Super speed, remember? I'm pretty hard to catch."

"What-" Cress swallowed nervously, "what are we running from?"

Thorne pursed his lips. "Honestly? Don't know. Didn't stick around long enough to get a good look. But I'm pretty sure that it was what murdered that poor guy Jacin found."

All the blood drained away from Cress's face and her big blue eyes turned bright with fear. "You can't go out there again! What if it catches you?"

"Like I said, I'm pretty hard to catch." Thorne said, trying to reassure her, "You on the other hand, are much more vulnerable. You need to hide and contact the other Rampions. They'll track both me and our psychotic friend down, capture it, and we'll all live happily ever after, okay?"

Cress stared worried up into his face. "Promise you'll be okay?"

"Promise."

On impulse, he cupped Cress's pale cheek in one hand and pressed his lips softly against her forehead. When he pulled away, she'd gone stiff with shock, and was staring at him with her mouth open.

He smiled at her. "Stay safe." And then he was gone, running down the road at top speed.

It didn't take long for Thorne to find the thing. It had practically given up on stealth by this point. The quiet ticks of its claws tapping against pavement had given way to painful scraping noises, and it was growling and snarling like mad. Still, it was a bit of a shock when Thorne turned a corner and found himself face-to-face with it.

Finally, he could get a good look at it. And it was definitely an it. There was almost nothing about it that was human. Bulky arms that hung heavily at its sides with bulging muscles the size of Thorne's head. It had giant hands with long fingers tipped with curved claws. Huge fangs jutted out from its misshapen jaw, and its eyes burned with a fierce, hungry light.

Thorne grinned and waved at it friendlily. "Hey pal! Wanna play a game of keep-away?"

The monster roared and charged at him.

"I'll take that as a yes." Thorne turned on his heel and tore down the road.

Turns out, running away from a monster is way harder than it sounds, especially when you want it to keep chasing you until back-up has arrived. That thing may have been bulky and ugly, but it was definitely not slow. If it weren't for Thorne's super speed, he had no doubt that he would be dead already. As it was, he was having trouble keeping his super speed under control. He couldn't just kick it into overdrive like normal. he had to stay just ahead of the monster, otherwise it would lose interest and go hunting for another tasty target, like a certain tiny blonde girl. And no way could Thorne let that happen. He would just have to maintain a more-or-less steady pace away from the beast until help arrived. A feat, he discovered, made about a million times harder when you don't know where the dead ends in the city are.

Thorne ducked into an alley and skidded to a halt in front of a brick wall. Behind him, the monster's growl turned just a tiny bit triumphant. It had its prey cornered. Thorne looked behind him, hoping for a way of dodging around the monster… just in time to see it lunging forward, teeth bared, ready to rip his throat out.

With a yelp, Thorne fell over, just missing the snapping teeth. He tried to stumble to his feet, and promptly fell over again as the monster tried to gore him with its claws. Frantically scrabbling out of reach, Thorne attempted to channel his powers, to run out of this cursed death-trap with the speed of a jet plane. But he had been running non-stop for a while now. He was tired. He just managed to make it past the monster, but his legs had stopped cooperating. He wouldn't be able to keep this up for much longer. And judging from the monster's hungry grin, it knew that.

Thorne gritted his teeth. There was no way out of it now. He was running out of juice, and this thing, somehow, still had plenty to spare. He couldn't afford to wait for back-up, not if he wanted to live. That left only one thing, that was probably still going to get him killed but at least in a cooler way: fighting the monster.

Putting on another burst of speed, Thorne charged at it. It was so surprised he actually managed to land a punch to its mouth. When he managed to pull back to a safe distance, he was panting, but a wide grin was spread across his face.

"If you wanna kill me, you'd better be prepared to suffer some injuries of your own!" He shouted.

The monster growled and pounced forward, one giant hand reaching out to slash Thorne's face into a mess of bloody ribbons. Thorne ducked quickly. He had just enough time to congratulate himself on dodging the attack before the monster's teeth flashed towards his neck. Crying out with surprise, Thorne stumbling backward, instinctively raised his hands for protection. A bright, stabbing pain shot up his hand and Thorne yelled in pain. He cradled the injured hand to his chest, the skin already soaked with his own blood. He realised with horror that, where his little and ring finger should be, there were only two bloody stumps.

A sickening, crunching sound made him look up. The monster was watching him with interest, as if savouring Thorne's pain. Its jaw was working slowly, the crunches coming from whatever it was chewing on.

_My fingers, _Thorne thought, bile rushing up his throat, _it's chewing on my fingers._

"Well that was disgusting."

Thorne turned slowly, still holding his bloody hand. A man in a red coat was standing at the opening to the alley, his features twisted with disgust as if he was looking at a particularly nasty pile of animal droppings.

Casually, he reached inside the pocket of his coat and brought out a gun. Thorne stumbled back a few steps, but the man wasn't aiming for him. He pulled the trigger, there was a whistle of air just by Thorne's ear, and a surprised yelp from the monster. It's savage eyes, only moments ago bright with the thrill of the hunt, dimmed and rolled back into its head, the whites briefly flashing before the monster fell backwards, a tranquiliser dart sticking out of its chest.

The man raised an eyebrow at Thorne. "No, "thank you"? I did just save your life."

Thorne frowned. Something about this guy made him think that saving Thorne wasn't the reason he'd shot that monster.

The man scrutinised Thorne, looking him up and down. "I've seen you before," He decided, "on the news. One of the Diplomat's new team members, yes?"

Thorne frowned deeper.

A pleased smile spread across the man's dark face. "That might be useful to us."

Before Thorne even had time to blink, the man re-aimed the tranquiliser gun at Thorne's chest and, seeming almost bored, pulled the trigger.

**A/N: Now we know what had killed that guy Jacin found! But now you're probably going to be on pins-and-needles about what's going to happen to Thorne while he's in captivity. Hey, 1 out of 2 isn't bad, right?**

**Please review!**


	45. Chapter 45

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Cress**

Cress paced back and forth, rubbing her arms and occasionally reaching up to fiddle with her hair, before remembering that she'd cut it to stop just below her chin. She and the rest of her team was standing in the Rampion Surveillance department, where staff members, both prodigy and non-prodigy, feverishly scanned footage taken from the hyper-advanced Rampion security surveillance network. Nothing ever escaped the Rampions' sight. Except for Thorne, apparently.

The nearest worker looked up from their screen and shook their head. "I'm sorry, but we can't seem to locate the Captain in any of our fields."  
"Is it possible that he's just in an area the Rampions haven't rigged up with cameras yet?" Cinder asked worriedly.

"The Rampions have installed cameras all over the city, even the sewage systems." The worker explained, "If the Captain is within city limits, we can find him."

"He's got to be within city limits!" Cress cried, "He wouldn't run away!"

Jacin raised an eyebrow at her. "Cress, running is kind of his thing."  
"He wouldn't run away." Cress repeated stubbornly, "Not when there's still work to be done to stop the Lunars."

The others exchanged doubtful looks, but Cress ignored them. They just didn't know Thorne like she did. She knew that he wouldn't hide or run away, he wasn't that kind of person. He was a hero, and heroes protect and help people. He'd saved her life, hadn't he? When he noticed that something was chasing them, he hadn't just run away to save his own skin. He'd taken her somewhere safe first, and then went back to distract their pursuer so she could call for help. If that wasn't heroism, Cress didn't know what was.

"Can you at least find footage of when Thorne and I were walking down the main road to get back to headquarters?" Cress asked the worker, "You should be able to track him from there."

The worker nodded and turned back to their screen. "Right 1-0. What time did this take place?"  
"Um, around one o'clock?" Cress hazarded.

The worker rewound the time and switched to footage of the main road. Cress waited for the images of Thorne and herself to appear. But nothing did. Nobody came down the road.

She frowned. "This is wrong. We should be seeing Thorne and I right now."

"Maybe you gave the wrong time?" Iko suggested, "Try rewinding the footage."

The worker obliged. Still no sign of Cress or Thorne.

Cinder scowled. "Cress is right. Something's definitely up."  
"Try searching up Everheart Street, time 12:50 pm." Jacin said firmly, "You should see Winter and I discovering…" He trailed off, glancing uneasily at Winter, "something bad."

Again the worker did as she was told. Again no-one could be seen in the footage.

The worker frowned. "This is strange. We've never had any problems before. Are you sure you have the address and time right."  
"Positive." Jacin assured her.

Cress stepped forward, pointing at the screen. "Mind if I try something? Just to check why the footage is acting all dodgy."

The worker nodded and got up from her.

Cress took the seat and spread her fingers out across the computer screen. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, allowing her muscles to relax. And then, instead of feeling the press of cool glass against her fingertips, she felt the tingling spark of electricity. She reached in further, and commands drifted across her consciousness; _sort files into their hourly time frames, speed up playback, pause playback, rewind playback, play film, play again, play again, play again, play again_…

Cress opened her eyes. Her arm was submerged in the screen up to her elbow. She quickly withdrew it, letting the crackling energy solidify back into skin before turning back to her team. "This footage is stuck on a loop. We're just watching the same few seconds over and over again."

"That's impossible!" Crown Jewel scoffed from her seat in the Council Chamber, "Our surveillance software was specially designed to resist alterations of the kind you describe."

"And the Lunars have probably spent years developing programmes that can bypass your software." Jacin countered, "Besides, the proof is right there in the footage. We have at least two accounts of Rampions being in a specific area at a specific time that was not found in the footage."

"And all of those accounts come from "former" Lunars." President Star said suspiciously.

"Vargas, Camilla, that's enough." The Emperor said firmly, "1-0 has demonstrated her loyalty to our organisation on multiple occasions, and Guard and Soul Blood admitting their role as spies within our organisation even though they could have easily continued to feed information back to the Lunars is solid proof of their favour to our organisation. You will end these accusations at once."

Crown Jewel and President Star scowled with irritation, said nothing.

The Emperor turned back to the team. "We will carry out a thorough inspection of our surveillance programmes to eliminate any other loops. In the meantime, we're going to need to hear the full story of your scouting mission. Leave out no details."

So the team told the story, starting with Scarlet describing how she and Wolf were attacked by someone named Ran and how the team went out to find Wolf, and ending with Cress telling how Thorne noticed someone following them, someone he theorised to be the murderer. By the time they were done, every member of The Council was frowning darkly.

"This is very troubling," said Crime Minister, "due to our compromised footage, we had no knowledge of any of this, allowing the Lunars full freedom to do whatever they wanted. The skies know how much they've managed to get away with because of this."

"Personally, I'm more concerned about why the Lunars were trying to use their "Miracle solution" on Red Comet." Primal said darkly, "I'm willing to bet that it was actually letumosis. But why give a member of the Rampions a dose of their strengthening agent?"

"Because they want to perfect it." Cress answered.

"Perfect it?" The Emperor repeated, "I thought they already had."

Cress shook her head. "Far from it. I knew that letumosis was faulty from when I worked for the Lunars, but I didn't say anything in case you would underestimate them because of it, since I also knew that letumosis did work. But, recently, I managed to gather some more specific information on it, and trust me, letumosis is far from perfect."

"Why is that?" Crime Minister asked.

"Those subjected to letumosis have a 50% chance of dying." Cress told them, "And those that survive have an 80% chance of going insane. I've also found that the power boost given by letumosis is random, and something of a double-edged sword. According to the files I found, the greater your boost in power, the greater the chance that you'll die in the process."

Crown Jewel frowned. "That Lunar woman who was pretending to be Wolf did mention that some people had died as a result of letumosis."

"This is excellent news!" The Emperor said, grinning. "Undoubtedly the Lunars were relying on us not knowing about letumosis' drawbacks as part of getting us to surrender to their terms. We are required to meet with the Lunars in a few days' time to discuss their demands. We will stage several Rampion operatives around the area armed with stasis to neutralise them, and they will be incarcerated and brought to justice."

Cress frowned with doubt. It sounded like a good plan. Nice, simple and strong. So why didn't she feel confident about it?

"You seriously think the Lunars won't be expecting that?" Jacin asked incredulously, "They'll definitely have a counter-plan of some kind."

Yeah, that was probably it.

"We'll set 1-0 to searching up their plans for the summit." The Emperor assured him, "Any contingency plan they have, we'll know about it, and will be prepared. All of you will be present at the summit ready to attack at the proper moment. On the full moon, the Lunars will be gone for good."

Cress sighed, desperately wishing she shared some of the Emperor's confidence.

**A/N: No cliff-hanger this time, but next chapter, the gang will be at the meeting between the Rampions and the Lunars. Just sit tight and cross your fingers that the Emperor's plan will work. **

**Please review!**


	46. Chapter 46

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Cinder**

Now, more than ever, Cinder found herself hating the light of the full moon. She crouched behind an abandoned fair stall, her finger gun at the ready and loaded with a stasis dart. She had already adjusted her vision to allow her to see in the dark, and her noise receptors were turned up high. Cinder was really hoping that would turn out to be worth it, because hearing every small sound in the fairground was driving her crazy.

In a patch of moonlight, The Council stood waiting, their faces stern and stiff. They all looked ready for a fight. Crown Jewel was in her full jewel form, President Star was absently twirling one of his throwing stars around his fingers, Primal was holding a fireball, General Thunder's hands were crackling with electricity and Crime Minister's hands were glowing softly with golden light. The Emperor just stood where he was, arms folded, eyes narrowed.

Cinder sighed and glanced back up at the moon. Surrounded by the darkness of the night sky, it seemed huge, powerful, unstoppable. Did The Council honestly think they could beat a force like that with a simple surprise attack? That they wouldn't get swallowed by its cold, silver light? There's a reason the Blood Moon time lasted so long, even after the Rampions were formed. They were just so powerful, not just as a force but as prodigies, even without their faulty strengthening serum. Sure, the Rampions had turned themselves into a force to be reckoned with over the years, but the Lunars had already been a force to be reckoned with even when the Rampions were at their weakest, and if their Queen was to be believed, then they were even stronger now. Was there any way this plan would work?

Finally, the Lunar's showed themselves. Their Queen was wearing a sheer veil, just like last time. Walking at her side was the man with dark eyes who called himself "Animal King" and the man with the smug smile and piercing cold eyes. The woman from before wasn't there. _Because she's rotting away in a Rampion prison cell without any powers,_ Cinder thought to herself grimly.

Two large men followed the Lunars, each pushing along something that was covered in plain white cloth. One of them was shaking violently, muffled growls and snarls emanating from behind the cloth.

Cinder shuddered. Something told her she didn't want to find out what was in there.

"Good evening, Emperor." The Queen purred, "I trust I find you well?"

"Wouldn't give you the pleasure of watching me drop dead from illness, Levana." The Emperor said darkly.

"There's no call to be rude, Emperor. I simply wished to begin our negotiations on a positive note."

"If it wasn't for the fact that I was talking to you, I might actually believe that." The Emperor replied.

The Queen shook her head in mock disappointment. "And here I was thinking that the great leader of the Rampions would at least make an effort to be civil during our meeting. I trust you have an answer to my proposal?"

The Emperor nodded stiffly.

The Queen gestured imperiously, as if the leader of the Rampions was nothing more than a peasant. "Then please, enlighten me."

"Our answer is no." The Emperor said firmly, "The Rampions will never surrender to the Lunars, no matter your numbers, no matter your weapons. We will always prevail."

Cinder frowned. The speech would be a lot more heartening if the odds didn't look so incredibly hopeless.

The Queen hardly seemed surprised. "I must say, I'm disappointed Emperor." She said almost pityingly, "I would've thought the lives of your own heroes would have meant more to you."

"Our heroes are strong and courageous." The Emperor told her, "We do not hide behind illusions and false claims of power, unlike you, Levana. We know about the downsides of letumosis. We know it is not nearly as great as you have made it out to be."  
Levana shrugged nonchalantly, "I admit, we have had some slight issues with letumosis, but if you have convinced yourself that it is completely ineffective and nothing to fear, then I'm afraid you are sorely mistaken."

The Queen turned and nodded toward Animal King. He grinned and pulled the tarp off one of the things she brought with her, the one with the snarling creature. The thing turned out to be a cage, with thick iron bars and a large creature unlike any Cinder had ever seen ramming into the bars in fruitless attempts at escape. It's teeth and claws gleamed a piercing, menacing white in the light of the moon, and it's glowing green eyes shone with wild hunger and ferocity. Those eyes… why did they seem so familiar

The Queen gestured to the creature. "I believe you already know about our wolf soldiers?"

The Emperor narrowed his eyes but said nothing.

"This is one that was subjected to letumosis." The Queen continued, "I think it's safe to say that he is much more powerful now than he was before, yes? Especially given that you know this particular soldier quite well."

Cinder's breath caught in her throat. Cautiously, almost fearfully, she looked at the creature again. She'd only ever met one person with eyes that unnatural shade of green, and her heart seemed to swell with pity for the poor man, who had made it abundantly clear how much he hated his… less human traits. Now, he didn't seem to have any human traits left, only beast. She never thought she'd feel pity for the man who was practically a psycho, but even Cinder couldn't help but sympathise with Wolf now.

"I'll concede that he is definitely more powerful," The Emperor admitted, "though at the cost of his sanity. He seems just as likely to attack you as us. Not the most effective weapon."

"Not when we have Animal King on our side." Levana replied, "In case you haven't already deduced it from the hospital raid, he is capable of controlling the minds of animals. And this solider has plenty of animal inside of him."  
Animal King grinned and looked at Wolf, who suddenly stopped growling and struggling to break free of his prison. Instead, he sat demurely back on his haunches, his great head bowed, as if waiting for a beating.

"Animal King is one person, and as a result is unreliable when it comes to controlling your soldier." The Emperor said stubbornly, "What if he is compromised in some way? His concentration will slip, and you will lose all control of your little science experiment."  
Levana sighed, a long, drawn out sound. It occurred to Cinder that she was heavily enjoying herself. "Still you insist on underestimating us Emperor. Very well. Perhaps a demonstration of letumosis is in order?"

Animal King turned and pulled the tarp of the second cage. Inside this one was a man, leaning against the bars, looking almost bored.

He studied his surroundings with interest. "Huh. Not a bad night to be killed by a bunch of homicidal prodigies."

Cinder risked a tiny sigh of relief. Thorne was okay. Still a complete idiot, but okay. What a relief! She'd never admit it, but she was really worried for him. After all, he'd gone to use himself as bait against a potential murderer. Not the safest course of action.

The man with the smug smile pulled a syringe from his coat pocket and grabbed Thorne's arm, pushing up the sleeve to expose the bare skin.

"Sorry pal, already gotten my flu shots for this year. Don't need another mix of chemicals flowing through my bloodstream." Thorne said.

"We don't need a demonstration, Levana." The Emperor snapped, "Let the Captain go."

Levana turned and nodded to the man holding Thorne, and he obligingly let go.

"So, Emperor," she said sweetly, turning back to face The Council, "have you grasped just how powerful we are?"

"Actually Levana," The Emperor replied, "I believe it's you who's having trouble deducing how powerful we are."

With that he raised his hand up into the air. The signal.

Cinder quickly twisted out of her hiding place and shot her dart at Levana. But the shot missed, and the projectile whistled harmlessly passed the Queen. Cinder ducked back into the shadows and hurried to reload, when suddenly, ever muscle in her body stiffened into stillness of their own accord. Her hand stayed hovering over her belt, ready to take out another dart. Her legs were tensed and ready to spring. But she couldn't move. She just couldn't.

Outside, Levana was laughing. "Did you really think I wouldn't expect some kind of attack from you, Emperor? Or that I wouldn't be able to sense all of your little heroes hiding around this fairground?" She tsked mockingly. "It's like you've forgotten everything about my family since the Blood Moon Time. We are some of the most powerful mind-controllers in the world, in _history_. Didn't you realise that I would be able to gain control of your prodigies? I seemed to have missed one though." Levana added, her voice irritated, "Well, I suppose they must be taken care of. Jael, please send our new dog to attack the little hero hiding behind that stall."

**A/N: Sorry I made Wolf super mutated please don't kill me! **

**Please review**


	47. Chapter 47

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Cinder**

Cinder's heart thumped in her ears as the creak of what must have been the door of Wolf's cage rang through the night air like a broken violin. The tick and scrape of his claws on the cement floor soon followed. She shut her eyes and grit her teeth, desperately willing herself to move, to finish reloading her hand-gun, to do anything other than sit here and wait to be torn apart. Warnings beamed along the back of her closed eyelids about her increased heartrate, uneven ventilation, increased adrenalin, until she felt ready to punch her own computer brain just to get it to shut up and quit telling her things she already knew. Until a new message, one that she'd never seen before, scrolled across her vision: BIOELECTRIC MANIPULATION DETECTED. INITIATING EMERGENCY BLOCK IN 3…

Wolf's growls were starting to sound uncomfortably close to Cinder's hiding place.

2…

A large shadow fell just in front of her. Cinder could just see the tip of a vaguely animalistic foot.

1…

In a sudden snapping hurricane of wild savagery, Wolf bounded around the corner, teeth bared, claws outstretched, ready to tear Cinder to shreds. With a yelp, Cinder lashed out with her now free legs, kicking Wolf square in the jaw with her metal one. He howled in pain, one giant hand instinctively reaching up to cradle his injured mouth. Seizing her chance, Cinder scrambled to her feet and ran out of the cover of the stall, loading another dart into her metal hand and blindly firing behind her. By sheer luck, the dart embedded itself into Wolf's neck. Cinder breathed an exhausted sigh of relief, and she waited for Wolf's muscles to deflate, for his jaw to snap back to a regular shape and for his teeth to shrink down to a regular size. Only, none of that happened. Why didn't anything happen? Wolf could be affected by letumosis, why couldn't he be affected by stasis? Why wasn't he losing his powers?

With an irritated growl, Wolf swiped at the dart still embedded firmly in his neck, making it to fall to the ground, useless.

"You've got to be kidding me…" Cinder moaned as his attention snapped back to her. She reached down for the compartment in her calf, where she was keeping a hammer, but Wolf was quicker. He bounded toward her, a feral roar tearing itself from his throat, and Cinder was forced to hurriedly dodge out of the way. With far more grace and agility than should be possible for such a large creature, Wolf pivoted and made to tear Cinder's face off again. But even he couldn't keep his footing when a silver and blue blur suddenly smashed into his side.

"Iko?" Cinder cried out in shock.

Iko grinned back at her, her now metal teeth gleaming in the moonlight. "I gotcha sis! Claws and teeth are all very well for tearing into flesh, but I'm willing to bet this guy's gonna have some trouble hurting steel."

As if to prove her point, Wolf tried to bite into Iko's shoulder, and promptly retreated, howling in pain.

"Well, this is rather irritating."

Cinder turned to glare at Levana. The Lunar Queen either didn't notice or care, as she continued, "Two little Rampions thinking they can save the day all on their own. It's quite amusing, actually. But I'm afraid you're a little outnumbered."

All around them, Rampions suddenly abandoned their hiding spots. Cinder grinned, daring to think that they had a chance. How ever many Lunars Levana had, surely they had just as many Rampions, right?

Just goes to show: never, ever think that things are going to be okay. You'll just feel even more hopeless when you realise they aren't.

The Rampions who'd just revealed themselves weren't looking at Levana and her cohorts; they were staring fixatedly at The Council, and their gazes were completely blank. Cinder's heart sank as she realised that Levana had already gained control of these heroes. These people weren't backup, they were the enemy.

To their credit, The Council quickly got over their shock at seeing so many of their prodigies under the control of the enemy. General Thunder spread his hands and the winds picked up at an unnatural speed, growing faster and faster, stronger and stronger. Discarded popcorn bags and popsicle sticks rose into the air, spinning around The Council and the Lunars. Soon, They were completely obscured from view, separated from the rest of the prodigies by a giant tornado.

"Glad to know you're so concerned about our safety." Cinder grumbled, glaring at the wall of wind.

A sudden gunshot snapped her attention back to the mind-controlled prodigies. A stasis dart bounced harmlessly off her metal leg. The blank-eyed prodigy who fired the shot adjusted his aim, raising the pistol slightly to aim at Cinder's chest instead. Gritting her teeth, Cinder felt for his mind. It felt as though there were a cage around it, restricting its movements, making sure it can only stay in one place, do certain things. Cinder didn't know if she could break the cage, but she was pretty sure she could change it. It was hard, a lot harder than the simple, free minds she was used to. But not impossible. The prodigy lowered his gun, that blank look never leaving his eyes. Cinder hated that, but there wasn't much else she could do.

"Sorry." She muttered, before letting her power stretch out across the entire crowd of Rampions. She couldn't stop them all, she wasn't that strong. But she was sure she could stop a lot.

Cinder tightened the cages around their minds, shrinking them down so they could only stand still like totem poles. A headache throbbed in Cinder's forehead, she was gritting her teeth so tightly she was sure they would crack, but she didn't care. Finally, she was doing something good with her accursed inheritance. Finally all that training with Professor Erland was paying off!

She was concentrating so hard on keeping as many Rampions out of Levana's control as possible that she didn't notice that that wind had died down until Levana's smooth, flowing voice drifted across the suddenly still air.

"Well, well, well." She said coldly. Cinder imagined a frown behind that veil. "Aren't you full of surprises?"

**A/N: Cinder using her powers: yay! Levana noticing Cinder using her powers: not-so-yay.**

**Please review!**


	48. Chapter 48

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Cinder**

All Cinder could do was stare as the Lunar Queen slowly walked toward her. She felt like she was being stretched in a million different directions as she struggled to keep control of the Rampions. The Council watched as Levana approached Cinder, their faces completely blank. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened inside General Thunder's tornado.

"So the Rampions have gotten themselves a Lunar." Levana said, "Ironic, considering they've declared us as their greatest enemy."  
"I'm… not… a Lunar." Cinder said through gritted teeth.

Levana shook her head. "I'm afraid that is just your denial speaking. I know what sort of mind-control you are using to hold these "heroes"." she said with a grand, sweeping gesture of her hand, "And I also know that the only prodigies with the abilities that you have are members of my family. And any member of my family," her voice turned cold and mocking, "is a Lunar."  
Somehow, Cinder managed to snort. "If that logic were true, then that guy in the cage over there would be a stiff subordinate soldier in the American military."

"She makes a good point." Thorne called out.

Levana ignored him. "I imagine you are a bastard child of my father's. It would explain how you've managed to hide from us."  
"In case you haven't noticed, I'm about twenty years younger than you." Cinder said.

Levana slowly reached up to her veil, gracefully lifting the sheer material up so it draped down her back, revealing a beautiful ebony face framed with auburn hair, glittering onyx eyes and striking red lips. She was the picture of perfection, or she would be, if it weren't for the orange light blinking at the corner of Cinder's vision. But what could have set off her lie detector when she hadn't even said anything?

"You want me to think you're younger than me," Levana said, her voice somehow clearer with the reveal of her face, "but I know fully well how our power works, just like I know that this image of a young girl you wear is just a disguise. A rather ugly disguise I might add."  
Cinder forced her face into a patronising smirk. ""I'm afraid that is just your denial speaking."" She said mockingly.

Levana frowned with irritation and her dark eyes swept over the gathered prodigies, taking in the ones under Cinder's control, standing stiff as poles, and the ones still under her thrall, slowly prowling around them, hands resting on their guns. "I will admit that you seem to be exceptionally strong with your gift. You have gained some measure of control over your Rampions." Her frown melted into an arrogant smile, "But power doesn't quite trump experience. I've let you have your fun, but I'd like my soldiers back now please, if you don't mind."

A yelp of shock and pain leapt from Cinder's throat as the minds in her hold suddenly pulled away. She struggled to retain her grip, but it was like trying to hold onto smooth plastic with sweat-slicked hands. Slowly, the prodigies' minds slipped away, and they started to move. A small step to the side, a twitch of fingers on guns. Soon, they would be completely torn away from Cinder's control, and she thought she had a pretty good idea of who their next target would be.

Groaning, Cinder forced herself to tighten her grip on the minds in her control. Levana's laughter echoed in her ears as if it came from miles away, and Cinder felt the unfortunate Rampions being pulled from her grip even harder.

Cinder shut her eyes and ground her jaw so hard she was sure her teeth would crack. A headache was steadily building itself up in her skull. Her limbs were shaking with effort, and her heart pounded in her ears. The muscles in her normal leg gave out and Cinder fell to one knee.

Opening her eyes a crack, Cinder had just enough time to see Levana smirk triumphantly before the minds she was only barely keeping a hold of suddenly wrenched violently away. There was a scream, and it took Cinder a few moments to realise it came from her own throat as her mind was forcefully pulled in several directions. Her hands reflexively reached up to clutch at her head, ignoring the hard press of her own titanium fingers as they dug into her skull. Flashing lights danced across her vision and she shook her head, trying to ignore the hundreds of hammers beating at the inside of her skull. Forcing her shaking muscles to cooperate, she returned to a standing position and glared at the surrounding prodigies, waiting for them to attack. But all they did was stare at her, eyes stretched wide in fear and wonder. Wait, how can their eyes be stretched wide in fear and wonder? Levana's controlling them, isn't she? Shouldn't their faces be blank, or at least twisted with the disgust the Lunar Queen obviously felt for her?

She raised her robotic hand out in front of her, ready to open fire in case any of her former allies turned hostile, only her hand wasn't robotic. It was… normal. No, not normal, _perfect_. The skin was smooth and clean, the nails clipped and shiny. Cinder new that if she touched it, the hand would be soft.

"No…"

The quiet muttered word snapped Cinder out of her trance as she looked at the Lunar Queen. Her pale hands were tightly clenched at her sides, and her perfect, beautiful face was scrunched up and dark with fury.

"No…" she said again, "you aren't – you can't be – she's dead!"

Cinder watched as the skin on her left hand faded back to metal before raising her head to look squarely at Levana. She knew what she had to say and, surprisingly, it was quite easy to say it, given she wasn't proud of it at all. But as she opened her mouth, the words practically flowed out into the world of sound. "I'm the daughter of Channary Blackburn, also known as Starstriker. Guess that makes you my aunt."

**A/N: Please review!**


	49. Chapter 49

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Cinder**

"My niece is dead." Levana snarled, her beautiful features twisting into something that might resemble imperfection. "She died over a decade ago."

Cinder spread her hands in front of her. "Clearly "she" didn't."

"I believe it's even clearer that she did." Levana retorted, "You are nothing more than an imposter, a child born to a common mistress, seeking attention."  
"You think I actually have to try to get attention?" Cinder asked, raising her metal hand, "I don't exactly blend into crowds, even without the whole, related-to-Lunars thing."

Levana sneered with disgust as she looked at the metal appendage. "Even if you are who you say you are, you're clearly no threat. Your skill with you gift is rusty and fresh. If you were anywhere near my level, you'd at least cover those hideous robot parts."  
Cinder shrugged. "Too much trouble. If I want to hide my "hideous robot parts", I'll just wear gloves, boots and long pants, thank you very much."  
Levana sniffed. "I daresay a glamour is far easier than some clothes. With a mere thought, you could hide all of your many imperfections. The fact that you don't trust your gift enough for even a simple task like that is enough to tell me that you are no threat whatsoever."  
"You wouldn't trust your gift to hide who you are either if you had a lie detector in your brain."  
"What difference would that make?"

"Ever since you took off that veil of yours my lie detector's been going off, which is weird because you haven't said anything, so how could you lie? But it's your appearance that's a lie, isn't it? That's what's triggering my lie detector. This isn't what you really look like."  
Levana glared down at her, a dangerous light brewing in her onyx eyes. Her ivory skin was as pale as when she first took off her veil, but Cinder had a sneaking suspicion she was using her powers to cover up an angry blush.  
"You are fast trying my patience, "niece"." Levana hissed mockingly, "I strongly advise that you don't try it any further."  
"Or what, you'll force me to kill myself?" Cinder smirked. "Sorry, but that's one of the perks of having a computer in your brain. I'm a little hard to control."

"Then I suppose we'll have to do this the hard way."

Levana closed her eyes, her brow creasing ever so slightly in concentration. All at once, eerie howls rang through the air, and the sound of too many feet to count thudding against the ground soon followed.

Cinder widened her stance and narrowed her eyes as she looked around her, trying to find the source of the noise. The other Rampions did the same, their gazes still foggy from Levana and Cinder's manipulation.

She wasn't sure who was the first to see the invaders, only that someone in the crowd of Rampions suddenly shouted and pointed to a group of people walking down the main path of the fair. Soon, more of them came around the other end of the path, then more silently crept out of the shadows. In no time at all, they were completely surrounded.

Cinder cursed under her breath as she struggled to get an idea of how many of them there were, but her mind quickly shied away from actually stamping a number on them, maybe because of how utterly crushingly big that number would be. However many there were, Cinder was sure of one thing: there were a lot more of them than there were Rampions.

She frowned in concentration, trying to gain control of at least a fraction of the massive force she was faced with, and hope to the skies that she would still be able to move so she wouldn't get killed within ten minutes. But just as soon as she touched the mind of a single soldier, a white-hot dagger of pain built up behind her skull, piercing through her consciousness and fracturing her concentration. She shrieked in pain, her hands instinctively reaching up to clasp her forehead. In the background, she could hear Levana's distinct tinkling laughter.

"You honestly didn't think I'd let you get away with that trick twice, did you?" she said mockingly before turning to Animal King. "This girl bothers me. Get rid of her."

Animal King grinned and bowed low for her. "Gladly, My Queen."

A low growl from behind was Cinder's only warning.

She scrambled to get out of the way as claws swiped at where her head had been moments before. Wolf whipped his head around as she struggled to get away, never letting her out of his sight. His fight with Iko hadn't left him unscathed. One of his eyes was swollen shut, and a trickle of blood ran from a busted lip. He was slightly favouring his left leg, probably because of the heavy bruising on his ankle, and some of his toe claws were broken off. But… if Wolf was here, where was Iko? Was she alright? Was she…

Cinder shook the thought out of her head before it could finish. She wasn't going to think about that right now.

Wolf's attack seemed to be the signal for Levana's army to charge, enraged shouts tearing from the throats of the prodigies, and excited howls and roars from the wolf soldiers. The Rampions were only too happy to meet them in the middle, their own battle cries mingling with the Lunars in the worst orchestral piece the world ever had the misfortune of hearing.

The man with the smug smile extended an arm to Levana, who took it graciously and they vanished. Great, now not only did Cinder have to deal with one of, if not the most, powerful prodigy alive, she didn't even know where she was! Why couldn't things be easy for her, just once?

Wolf lunged towards Cinder again, and she just managed to dodge out of the way. She felt for his mind, hoping that maybe she could make him stop attacking just for a few moments so she could come up with any sort of plan for stopping his attack. But there was nothing. Nothing human for her to grab onto.

She dashed behind a carousel register and hurriedly fished around her belt for something she could use, uncomfortably aware of the fast approaching pounding footsteps as Wolf stalked his prey.

Her hand closed around a belt of bullets. She clenched her jaw, but hastily loaded them into the compartment in her hand.

_I won't shoot to kill. _She told herself. _ Just to… knock him down for a bit. I won't kill him._ She hoped to the skies she'd be able to keep that promise.

Cinder hastily ran out from behind the register just as Wolf leapt over it, landing squarely where she'd been crouching moments before. Quickly, she raised her hand and fired one of her recently loaded bullets. The bullet buried itself in his side and Cinder winced, waiting for the howl of pain or for him to stumble back from the force of the shot. But all Wolf did was growl and run towards her, claws outstretched.

"Oh, come on!" Cinder moaned as she struggled to stay out of the way of those deadly knife-like weapons, "What's it gonna take to get you to stop?"  
"More than you can give, cyborg." Animal King said smugly.

"I wasn't talking to you." Cinder said through gritted teeth as she struggled to aim her finger-gun for another shot.

"But I'm answering anyway." he nodded towards Wolf proudly, "That beast won't stop attacking you, no matter how much you hurt it. Its instincts are under my command now, and it won't stop until it has fulfilled my wishes."

"First of all," said a voice from above, "Wolf's a _he_, not an _it._"

Cinder looked up to see a familiar red head, holding a gun with a lot more confidence than Cinder felt with her robotic hand.

"Second of all," she continued, narrowing her brown eyes at Animal King, "I get the feeling you're going to have a hard time giving him orders if you're dead."

Wolf turned and with a furious roar leapt up at Scarlet, swiping at her with his claws, but she simply flew up out of his reach and pointed her gun at Animal King. Even from the ground, Cinder could see the hatred burning in her eyes.

A squeeze of the trigger. A deafening bang. And then Animal King was falling, his hand pressed uselessly against the steadily bleeding hole in his chest.

Wolf blinked and shook his head, as if trying to shake away the man's influence from his mind, before tilting his head back and howling up at the full moon, the long, low note lingering eerily even after he stopped.

With a feral snarl, he turned his attention to the battling prodigies all around him, charging into the fray. At first, Cinder was relieved when she saw him knock down a Lunar. Maybe he was on their side after all. Maybe he wasn't totally animal. Then he immediately turned and tried to kill a Rampion. Cinder huffed with dismay. Never mind.

She looked up at Scarlet. "I need to find Levana. Have you seen her?"  
Scarlet raised an eyebrow at her. "You want to go up against the most powerful Lunar there is? Are you crazy?"

Cinder shrugged. "Probably."  
Scarlet sighed. "Well, hate to disappoint, but if you want to find The Queen, you're on your own because I haven't the faintest clue as to where she might be."  
"Then I'll just have to go about taking her down the hard way." Cinder said grimly.

Scarlet offered her a strained smile. "Good luck. You're really going to need it. I'm going to try and calm Wolf down."  
Cinder grimaced. "Scarlet, you know it might be too late-"

"No, it's not." She said stubbornly, "I know Wolf, and I know he wouldn't just let himself go full animal, letumosis or no."  
"Well, good luck. You're really going to need it." Cinder told her, echoing her friend's previous statement.

Scarlet smirked down at her, before flying off to find her animal friend.

Cinder huffed and scanned the fairground-turned-battlefield. "Alright Cinder, if you were an evil queen, where would you hide?"

**A/N: Please review!**


	50. Chapter 50

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Thorne**

Thorne never thought it could be possible to be bored in the middle of a raging battle. Maybe if you were unbelievably good and everyone you were fighting was super inexperienced, but a battlefield with a bunch of super-powerful highly trained prodigies smashing into each other? No-way could that every be boring. Except when you're stuck in a cage and everyone around you was ignoring you. Then it's boring.

Thorne pulled uselessly on the bars of his cage, cursing under his breath as cries of rage and pain bombarded him from all directions. Taking as many steps back as his prison would allow, he rammed his shoulder into the bars. The cage wobbled slightly underneath him, but the only real outcome was a sore shoulder, which was exactly NOT the outcome Thorne was hoping for. Seriously, where was a blowtorch when you needed one?

A howl made him look up and through the annoying bars that just refused to even dent under his efforts to escape. A man was standing over the body of an unconscious Rampion, his face raised to the night-sky as he howled his triumph at the moon.

Thorne snorted. "Seriously? A howl? Isn't that a bit cliché?"

The man stopped howling and turned to glare at Thorne, his bright blue eyes narrowed in a menacing glare, and his lips peeled back just enough to reveal the too-sharp points of his teeth.

Thorne shrugged. "Hey, no offence meant big guy, I'm just saying that you could be at least a little bit creative with your victory cry. Try a roar next time, or a bird-cry. Now that would be out of left-field!"  
"I'd shut that mouth if I were you human." The man snarled, slowly making his way towards Thorne. "Someone might decide your tongue belongs out of your mouth instead of inside it."

"Wow, whoever makes that decision is probably the dumbest person alive! Everyone knows that a person's tongue has to be inside their mouth."

The man growled. "I can think of a few reasons why it would be better to have that tongue removed."  
"Well, don't let me stop you then, although I feel obliged to warn you, you're going to have a very hard time eating after that operation."

The man roared and charged at Thorne's cage, reaching through the bars in an effort to swipe at Thorne's face with sharpened nails. Thorne simply stepped out of his reach and smirked. "Pro-tip pal: if you want to hurt someone, make sure there isn't anything between you and that person, like the bars of a cage for instance."

"I'll rip that stupid head right off your shoulders!" The man yelled, his eyes alight with wild rage. He reached up to the roof of the cage and, with only a little strain, ripped it right off.

He never saw Thorne's fist heading up towards his jaw.

The man stumbled back with a grunt of pain, but Thorne wasn't about to let him recover just yet. Not now that he finally had room to move. Faster than anyone could blink, Thorne had dashed out of his cage and delivered a punch right in the man's mouth, a kick to the small of his back, and shoved his head down to the hard pavement below them.

"And that's how to defeat a wolf-soldier." Thorne said, flashing his signature grin. "Now where are my teammates?"

As it turns out, finding a select few people in a chaotic battle is basically impossible. Shocking. But at least now he could actually do something while he was looking. "Something" mostly consisted of stealing guns off of and punching and/or shooting the enemy. Thorne had a lot of fun doing Something. But he was steadily tiring. Slowly but surely slowing down. It would be only a matter of time before he was well and truly exhausted, then he'd be just a sitting duck, just like when the Rampions caught him after he'd been running at top speed for a full day. But he wasn't out of juice yet.

He tossed aside the gun he'd been using and hurriedly picked another off a still body wearing a Rampion uniform, telling himself it was his imagination that the prodigy's chest wasn't rising and falling like it should. The thud of footfalls behind him forced him to rotate his stance to see one of the Lunar's bearing down on him, arms outstretched, their palms faintly glowing. It took all of Thorne's self-control not to close his eyes as he pulled the trigger of the gun, a faint hope at the corner of his consciousness praying that it only held darts. That prayer was silenced as soon as he saw the splash of red creeping up around the hole in the soldier's shirt. Thorne shuddered and looked at the soldier's booted feet instead, a much more comfortable sight. And a lucky one two, judging by the glint of steel peeking out from the top of the shoe.

Thorne slowly reached out and carefully slipped the knife out from the boot, revealing a rather wicked blade.  
"I'll bet all my aces that this'll be useful later." He muttered to himself, dropping the blade down his sleeve.

A loud crackling gave him an excuse to finally stop staring at the dead man. A few yards away, there was a faint blue glow coming from behind one of the stalls, outlining a person's silhouette. As Thorne watched, the light grew into a small explosion of lightning, and the person gave a yelp as they fell back. Someone else stepped into view, and quickly shot the person before they could get back up. Thorne couldn't see much of the newcomer, only that they were wearing clothes with weird, yet familiar, glowing blue markings.

A relieved grin spread across his face. Cress. Finally, someone he knew!

He tensed his legs, readying himself to dash over there, when another figure entered the scene. Or, their arm did anyway. Thorne could just make out their fingers wrapping around Cress's neck, her own hands reaching up to pull at them. He could see her blue eyes widening with fear and panic in the light of her suit, could see as the arm lifted her off the ground…

And that was all he needed to see.

Thorne let loose the pent-up tension in his legs and bolted towards the stall, zooming around the back and driving his fist into the newcomer's face. They gasped in pain and stumbled back, releasing Cress. She crumpled to the ground in a heap, clutching at her throat and gasping and panting for breath. Thorne fought the urge to check on her as he glared at her attacker, silently daring him to make a move.

The newcomer rubbed the back of his hand against his lips, studying the smear of blood left behind on his skin. He smirked at Thorne, looking remarkably pleased for someone with a split lip, and said calmly, "You shouldn't have done that."

He reached out and grabbed a hold of Thorne's wrist. He just had time to hear a faint, murmured "Captain?" from the girl behind him, before the world dissolved.

**A/N: AAAAAA SORRY THIS IS LATE!**

**Please review!**


	51. Chapter 51

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Scarlet**

You'd think a super-mutated wolf-man would be easy to find. Especially from the air. So why was Scarlet struggling so much with that simple task? Come on Benoit, it's not like he blends in or anything! He has claws and fangs for the skies' sake!

A loud snarl behind makes her turn in the air, a hopeful smile growing on her face. It quickly collapsed into annoyance and irritation at the sight of the blond Lunar lunging at her, teeth bared, ready to rip her throat out. Almost casually, she aimed her gun at him and fired, flinching slightly as he tumbled back onto the ground, completely unmoving. She didn't know what number victim he was. She'd stopped counting after five. But she knew she didn't want that number to get bigger. And she also knew, she didn't really have a choice.

Scarlet sighed and flew a little lower to get a closer look at the battlefield. The battlefield. Now that's something she didn't think she'd encounter since the end of the Blood Moon Time. She certainly didn't think she'd encounter it when she re-joined the Rampions. If she'd known… well, she still would have re-joined, but she'd have brought some more of Grand-mère's shotguns! And ammo. She was starting to worry about how much she had left.

A sharp roar came from just below her. She didn't even have time to turn to face the new threat before fingers tightened uncomfortably around her ankle and wrenched her towards the ground. Scarlet yelped with shock and desperately tried to stay in the air and pull herself out of her captor's grip. She blindly pointed her gun in what she guessed to be her attacker's general direction, not daring to tear her gaze away from the sky above, and squeezed the trigger but was met with nothing but clicks. Oh, so that's how much ammo she has left.

Tucking the gun back into her waistband she lashed out with her free foot, hoping to land a kick, or at least shock her attacker enough to make them let go. Unfortunately, they still had a free hand, and simply grabbed that leg as well. With a snarl of frustration, she twisted in the air so she could finally see who she was fighting. It was another wolf-soldier, looking insultingly bored as he held her in place. Scarlet drove her fist towards his face. He simply stepped aside and threw her to the ground, letting her own momentum from the failed punch betray her. Her knuckles were the first to hit, dragging across the loose gravel path, tearing at the skin so thin ribbons of red could track across the backs of her hands.

She struggled to her feet and glared at the man, gritting her teeth against the anger and pain surging through her. The soldier just stared at her unblinkingly as he unhurriedly walked towards her. For the first time, his blank expression shifted as his mouth twitched into a triumphant smirk, and a spark of wild hunger crackled in her eerie yellow eyes.

Scarlet fumbled at her belt, trying to reach for an extra bullet cartridge as she hastily scrambled away from the soldier, hoping against hope that's she'd be able to stuff a few bullets into the barrel. The soldier's smirk simply widened, and he lengthened his strides so that he could walk faster. By the time Scarlet realised that she didn't have any bullets left, the soldier had reached down and grabbed a hold of her hood, lifting her a couple feet off the ground. Scarlet reached behind her to claw at his fingers, only for him clench his free hand around her neck, squeezing so tight a part of her wondered if he would crush it in his grip. The rest of her was more focused on the sudden lack of oxygen.

She kicked and flailed in the soldier's grip, trying desperately to force his fingers open, to fly out of his reach, anything so long as it made him let go of her. But the soldier might as well have been made of steel for all the impact her struggles had on him.

Gradually, Scarlet felt the energy drain from her muscles, felt her movements slowing and growing feeble. Darkness pulsed on the very edge of her vision, threatening to engulf her. Her eyelids fluttered as finally she stopped flailing, instead hanging limp in the soldiers grip, all the fight squeezed out of her body.

There was a roar, and a blur, and then… she was released. She flopped to the ground like a ragdoll, desperately gulping down the air she'd been denied. She tried to move, to stand, but all she could manage were feeble twitches of her muscles. She groaned in frustration as she rolled to the side, trying to at least get a better look at what had made the soldier drop her. It took her weakened thoughts a few moments to actually process what she was seeing.

Two figures were fighting. One of them was the soldier, that had been slowly squeezing the life out of her. The other was a great, hulking form, with huge hands tipped with wicked curved claws, a misshapen jaw overflowing with fangs that made the soldier's look like baby teeth, and brilliant green eyes the shone like balls of fire in the dim light. Wolf.

Scarlet's eyes widened and, her arms shaking with the strain, just managed to push herself up to her hands and knees, keeping one eye on the fighters in case Wolf needed help. Though, it was becoming clearer by the second that that was not the case.

The soldier was clearly highly trained, and fought well enough, darting around Wolf to try and stay out of his reach and darting in for quick attacks. But for every blow he landed on Wolf, Wolf landed about five on him. And they were significantly more damaging, with his heavy claws and teeth gouging deep tears in the skin, whereas the soldier could only land punches, maybe a comparatively shallow bite if he was lucky. Eventually, Wolf's giant fist closed around his neck. The soldier choked and tried to pull Wolf's fingers away, but even with all of his enhanced strength, he couldn't make them budge an inch. Scarlet just managed a spark of satisfaction at the poetic justice of the situation, when Wolf gave a sudden jerk of his wrist, a wet snap rang through the air, and the soldier crumpled to the ground, his eyes dull in death. Wolf tilted his head back and howled up at the night sky, and with his teeth flashing in the moonlight, and the broken body lying at his feet, for a moment, Scarlet thought that the Wolf she knew, the sweet, awkward, protective Wolf that she'd met in Gille's Tavern all those weeks ago in Rieux, was gone. But it only lasted for a moment. He'd attacked someone that was trying to kill her. If he was really the brutish animal the Lunars wanted him to be, he would've attacked the weaker person which (annoyingly) was her, or at least gone after her after he'd beaten the other soldier. But he didn't. Instead, he just stood there, staring at the soldier's body. Maybe it was stupid… okay, it was definitely stupid, but Scarlet couldn't just let him run off again, without knowing for sure if the Wolf she knew, the Wolf she _loved_, was still there, even if it meant her getting torn apart.

"Wolf?" She called out to him, her voice hoarse from her near strangling.

His ears twitched at the sound of her voice, and his head snapped around, teeth bared in a snarl, eyes burning with animal ferocity and hunger. Scarlet met his gaze defiantly, hoping her couldn't hear her heart pounding away at her ribcage.

She waited for him to do something, whether it be snapping her neck as easily as he snapped the other soldiers, or to take her in his arms and reassure her that he was still Wolf, that he still loved her. She waited for what felt like an eternity.

Finally, the wild light glowing in his eyes dimmed to something tamer, or at least better contained. His lips fell to cover as much of his teeth as they could, leaving only the points jutting out from his jaw. His stance, rigid with anticipation of battle, relaxed.

"Scarlet?" his voice was soft, almost hesitant as he said her name. A bit gruffer than it was before, but still undeniably his.

Scarlet couldn't have stopped the relieved grin from breaking out in her face if she wanted to. He recognised her. He was still there. He was still the same Wolf.

She stretched out a hand. "Care to help a lady up? I'm still a bit out of it."

Wolf nodded and, obviously doing his level best to be gentle, took her hand in his own oversized one. He slowly and carefully pulled her to her feet, his face twitching nervously in a way that was a far cry from the ferocity that had been broiling under his features mere moments ago.

As soon as she was on her feet (albeit very shakily on her feet), Scarlet threw her arms around Wolf's torso, squeezing hard as she buried her face in his chest. He stiffened with surprise, and Scarlet found herself smiling at the thought of his eyes growing wide.

"I'm glad you're OK." She murmured, hugging him a little tighter.

Finally, she felt his own large arms wrap around her, gently holding her in place. "Yeah… yeah I'm fine." He said, as though he was trying to convince himself.

Scarlet pulled back and cupped his face in one hand. Wolf flinched slightly at her touch, but didn't resist as she wound her fingers through his hair, still wild and soft to the touch.

"You're… not afraid of me?" he asked tentatively.

Scarlet rolled her eyes. "Please. As if I could be afraid of you. It would be like being afraid of a giant teddy bear."

Slowly, the corners of Wolf's mouth pulled up in a shy smile, and his arms tightened around her.

**A/N: In case you haven't noticed, I've been feeling a bit Wolflet deprived lately.**

**Please review!**


	52. Chapter 52

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Winter**

The blood was everywhere. It was lapping at Winter's feet, splashing her face, filling her nose with its stench. She wondered if she would ever rid herself of its stain, if her skin would forever be tainted red, if she would ever smell anything but that disgusting coppery stench, if she would ever feel anything besides its uncomfortable warmth.

Winter flinched as another dying gasp slithered its way into her ears and tightened her grip on Jacin's hand. She hadn't let go of him since the battle started. He was her only anchor to reality, and in a time as horrific and bloody as this, she was more likely than ever to get swept out to sea.

Jacin gave her hand a quick squeeze, but didn't divert his focus from the Lunar soldier in front of him. She wasn't one of the wolf soldiers, just a regular prodigy. Winter wasn't even sure what her powers were. She didn't get a chance to use them before Jacin levelled his gun at her and pulled the trigger. Winter choked back a sob at the blast of the gun and buried her face in his shoulder so she wouldn't have to watch the girl fall.

Jacin wrapped a comforting arm around her. "I'm sorry Winter. I know you don't like this-"

"I hate this." Winter corrected quietly, "There's so much blood, so much pain. The city will never stop bleeding after this battle, never. The wounds will be too deep."

Jacin seemed to have no response to that, only hugging her closer to him and trying to cover her ears as the gun went off again.

Winter sobbed and fell to her knees, suddenly finding her muscles to be made of jelly. Jacin knelt down to, even going so far as to drop the horrid gun to cradle her in his arms. "Winter! Winter look at me! It's – it's going to be alright. I'm here. Focus on my voice. Winter!"

Wearily, almost painfully, Winter opened her eyes. She couldn't make out the details of Jacin's features through her tears. His form was nothing but a vague outline of blurry and smudged colours, with the battle around him like an artist just dumped all of their reds, blacks and blues onto a canvas and swirled them together. There were no people, only blobs with emotions.

She blinked, and some of the tears spilled out of her eyes, clearing her vision just enough for her to make out the worried light in Jacin's ice-blue eyes, and the wolf soldier coming up behind him, hands outstretched and eyes on Jacin's neck.

"Jacin!" She cried out in panic. He turned, but he wasn't turning quickly enough. The soldier would come to him. The soldier would grab his neck in those giant hands, and… and…

Forcing herself to block out the pain and destruction around her, Winter focused on the soldier's emotions. She could feel his malicious intent, his sharp-edged drive to kill. She quickly smothered that with a blanket of sorrow, pain and guilt. The blanket didn't smother the soldier long, only a few moments before that drive sliced through it, but it was enough.

In those moments of hesitation, Jacin had turned the barrel of the gun on the soldier, and in the moment the blanket was shredded, he fired.

Winter didn't close her eyes this time as the soldier fell. She forced herself to watch as the light left his eyes, and as the flush of life in his cheeks faded away. Jacin noticed and tried to cover her eyes with his hand, but she gently pushed it away.

"Winter?" He asked.

"I had a hand in his death." She whispered, "I made him stay still so you could shoot him. As punishment, I must watch him die. I made him suffer, so I must suffer. It is only fair."  
Jacin sighed in exasperation. "No, it's not fair. Your whole life, you've done nothing but suffer! That man was about to kill us, you did what you had to do. If it was you bleeding out on the ground, he wouldn't stop to watch you die to punish himself."

"It wouldn't be a very good punishment anyway." Winter murmured, "He's been trained to like it. People have tried to train me to like it, but they weren't very good coaches, so I hate it."

"That's not the point! The point is, why do you insist on making yourself suffer for the sake of fairness, when not once in your life has anyone been fair to you? What makes you think that it's you that has to give back, while all the people who've ever hurt you get away punishment-free?"

"Just because the world is unfair, doesn't mean that I have to be." Winter told him solemnly, "And you're wrong. People have been fair to me. The servants, our friends in the Rampions, and you. You have been nothing but fair to me Jacin, at the cost of being fair to yourself. I'll never forgive myself for that."

Jacin frowned at her. "You stop that, right now. I'm not letting you beat yourself up over my decisions. I wasn't going to sit back and let my best friend suffer. You needed help, still need help, so I'm going to help you, and nothing you say is going to stop me from doing that. Speaking of which," he added, glancing around them cautiously, "we'd better keep moving. This is not the time or place for a conversation."

Winter looked around herself in surprise. She'd almost forgotten about the battle raging around them and, if she was being totally honest, she wasn't too glad to be reminded of it. The last thing she need to see was more blood. But she nodded nonetheless.

Jacin turned and started clearing a path in the roiling mass of fighting prodigies. Winter moved to follow him, doing her best not to let the pain and hatred all around her seep into her soul. It was bloody enough as it was. But nothing could prepare her for the stab of jealousy and seemed to shoot through her body, passing through flesh, bone and spirit with the efficiency of a bullet.

A choked gasp tore from Winter's throat and she collapsed to her knees, pressing a hand to her chest. She looked up, already reaching out a hand for Jacin, but he wasn't there. Pulled away by the fighters. She wondered how much she would bleed before he found her again.

She turned her head wearily in the general direction she thought the envy had come from. A shadow turned away inside the doorway to a haunted house attraction.

Winter groaned and pushed herself to her feet. She'd only met one person with such painful emotions. She knew it was foolishness to go investigating. Jacin wouldn't want her to. But it was like he said: she couldn't just sit back and let her friends suffer. And, if she was right, that person would gladly make them suffer.

**A/N: Well. This chapter was heavy.**

**Please review!**


	53. Chapter 53

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Iko**

Iko used to think of herself as invincible. After all, what could hurt steel? Sure, she's suffered a few dents and got dazed a few times, but actually hurt? Never. The thought of dying in combat, a terror for every fighting soldier, whether human or prodigy, was nothing but a joke to her. Only now, her confidence in that thought was feeling a little flimsy.

Annoyingly, Wolf had quickly figured out that his teeth and claws weren't doing any damage and had quickly resorted to whaling on her with brute strength, throwing things at her or even throwing her at things. Iko didn't think she'd ever felt so many dents in her life! The metal had even broken open in some places, actually growing thin cracks on its surface! Those were going to need stitches when she turned back to normal, and stitches were downright hideous. She'd have to wear gross baggy clothes to hide them!

She lightly hit herself on the head. No time to think about that right now. She had to find Cinder, or Kai, or any of her teammates. And, preferably, avoid Wolf. She did not want any more stitches, thank you very much.

With only a little groaning, Iko pushed herself to her feet and ran off into the battlefield, tugging her gun out of her belt. Metal fists were all well and good, but you can't go wrong with a good firearm.

And, judging by all the chaos around her, she was going to need that firearm. And seeing as this was a battle between prodigies, it really was chaos. All of the elements seemed to be warring against each other, lighting clashing against fire, tornadoes crashing into tidal waves. Multicoloured lights shone from between the warriors and, in some cases, from inside them. Random explosions punctuated the cacophony of gunshots, war cries and agonised wails that made up the battlefield's soundtrack. There was no doubt that a lot of casualties would come from this war.

And Iko was determined to not be in that number.

She jumped into the fray, ignoring the complaints of her dented joints, and set about trying to thin the number of Lunars stuck in the battle. She quickly found herself out of bullets and reaching for a fresh magazine. And another. And another. Until her belt was completely empty.

"At least that means I've taken out a good few Lunars." She muttered as she hit one of the Lunars with the butt of her gun and lashed out with her metal fist at another.

Something tapped her on the shoulder and she whirled around, fist raised, ready to nail whoever snuck up on her.

Jacin quickly ducked out of the way and scowled at her. "You know, we're supposed to be fighting the _Lunars._"

Iko rolled her eyes. "I'm well aware of that Guard. You shouldn't have snuck up on me."

"I didn't. You just weren't paying attention."

"Because I was busy fighting for my life!"

Jacin sighed in exasperation. "I don't have time for this. Have you seen Winter?"  
Iko stared at him. "Winter?"

"Yes, Winter. Also known as Soul Blood, has three scars below her eye, can make pretty much any male who sees her into her servant with her face…"

"I know who Winter is, thank you!"

Jacin growled in frustration. "Well, she's gone missing. I was trying to keep her close to me so I could keep her safe, but she must've wandered off somewhere. This stupid battle is really stressing her out and with Levana here she's even more unsafe than she would already be and Winter can't fight very well-"

"So you're worried about her." Iko interrupted. Normally she'd be all for listening to Jacin's worried rant about all the ways Winter could get hurt (as far as she was concerned, his devotion to Winter was his only redeeming quality) but unfortunately this wasn't the time or place.

Jacin sighed. "Yes, I'm worried about her. I'm supposed to protect her, and I've completely failed at that. For all I know she could already be dead because I was too distracted to notice she wasn't by my side."

"Hey, don't think that way." Iko said, "Winter may not be much of a fighter, but she can take care of herself perfectly well if the need arises by… you know, scrambling people's emotions and stuff. Trust me Jacin," she continued earnestly at the look of borderline fear on his face, "she's okay, and she's just waiting for you, her Guard to come and find her, and carry her off into the sunset."

He quirked an eyebrow. "The sun set hours ago, and I'm pretty sure that the way things are going, the only place I'll be carrying her off to is the hospital."

Iko huffed and shook her head. Some people just didn't get romance. "Anyway, I'm sure she's around here somewhere, we just have to find her. Think, if you were Winter, and your Guard went missing, where would you go."

"You're asking me to guess what's in Winter's head? Have you ever even talked to her?" Jacin asked incredulously.

"Just give it a try and stop being such a pessimist. Honestly, what does Winter see in you?" Iko muttered.

He huffed. "Okay, fine. So, she doesn't like confrontation. Or blood. Or basically anything about fighting which is why this is the absolute worst place for her to be and she should have gotten out of here as soon as possible, but she's also loyal to a fault when it comes to her friends and likes to make herself useful, so that's not an option. Do you know where any of our other teammates are? Maybe she went and found them?"

"Well, Scarlet's probably trying to bring Wolf back into the realm of sanity, Thorne most likely would have found a way out of his cage by now and is probably with Cress-"

"Or in the next state." Jacin interrupted, "You think way too highly of that thief."

"Shut up and let me think. I think that Cress was planning on jumping between all the tech the Lunars carry around, so she'll be on the move if she's not already with Thorne. That leaves Cinder and Kai."  
"Kai is probably trying to get his father under control, what with him being manipulated by Levana and all, so chances are he's lying somewhere with every bone in his body broken beyond repair." Jacin said.

Iko winced. "R-right, then that's just Cinder, and if her earlier defiance was anything to go by, she's gone off looking for Levana, so if Winter's looking for her friends-"

"No."

Iko glared at him. "Will you stop interrupting me!"

"Winter will never go anywhere near Levana." Jacin insisted, "The Queen hates her more than anyone in the world and has been looking for an innocent-looking way to get rid of her this whole time. Or did you think her sending Winter out into the big, wide dangerous world instead of someone more experienced was an accident?" 

Iko's eyes widened. This lady wanted to kill Winter? But Winter is so sweet and lovable! How could anyone want to hurt her?

An image of Winter's incredibly beautiful, fully natural face came to her mind. Ah, that's why.

"Look Jacin," Iko said seriously, "you know Winter better than anyone. I need you to ask yourself, and for you to answer this truthfully: would Winter see Cinder sneaking up on Levana, and decide to retreat and find someone in a safer situation to hang around, or would she walk right in there, regardless of the danger, and try to help?"

Jacin's shoulders slumped in defeat. "She would… she would try to help." He said exhaustedly.

Iko nodded. "Right, so that's probably where she's going to be, and where you're going to have to go if you want to protect her. You ready?"  
"For Winter?" Jacin frowned determinedly, "Always."

**A/N: Iko, because I felt the need to write this amazing character.**

**Please review!**


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